A few stops along the run
by rokeat
Summary: PART OF "A LONG RACE". Collection of drabbles before, after or in-between of the main story. CHAPTER 2: The first movie Blam ever watched together (before they even became blam)
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_ _Well, let me explain what this is first: this story, or collection of drabbles if I continue, goes in the "A long race" universe. It's not a continuation, nor it's going to be multi-chaptered, just some little stories in relation which anything that happened in that verse (before, after or in between the main story). So if anyone always wanted to see more about a particular thing mentioned at any point in the trilogy, just let me know! It might happen!_

 _This chapter especifically takes place a few months after the "The finishing line"'s epilogue._ _And oh, didn't we all desperately need some happy uncle Cooper? ;)_ _I really really hope you like it._

* * *

 **A DAY AT THE BEACH**

"Catch me if you can!"

Cooper chuckled at the endless energy of his nephew as the latter started running in front of him. He had been going on and on about going to the beach since he woke up –too early for his uncle's taste– and now that he had finally gotten the family moving, he was too excited to stop. So as soon as they had put a foot on the sand, Jason had let go of his Papa's hand and run to play with his favorite uncle.

"If you think I'm going to let a four-year-old brat like you beat me you've got another thing coming!" Cooper answered as he picked the little boy, turned him upside down and threw him over his shoulder while the child laughed unreservedly.

"Be careful, Coop" Blaine warned his brother out of habit, even if Cooper knew he was not really serious by the smile on his face as he watched them play.

"Aren't I always?" Cooper answered as he pretended to let the kid fall, to which Jason burst out laughing again.

"What do you think, Maddie?" Blaine asked in a playful tone to the baby looking adoringly at him in his arms. "Do you think we should let uncle Cooper around you guys that much?"

Sam smiled at the brothers' exchange, glad that they had decided to spend a few days in Cooper's house in Los Angeles. Since he and Blaine had started dating, all those years ago, there had been more than a few times in which he had been sure it was not possible to be happier than he was at the moment. And all those times he had been proved wrong, one right after the other. But this time he was sure it was really impossible for his life to get any better: marrying Blaine had only been the start of something amazing. Both their careers were going better than they could have ever imagined, with Blaine being a successful Broadway star –Tony award included for his amazing role in _Hedwig and the angry inch_ – and his second album reaching a golden record. And Sam wasn't doing any worse, considering his comic book was still going, he was negotiating for it to become a movie and he was starting to get a name as a painter.

All that had allowed them to buy the house of their dreams in just a few years, with a big yard and a lot of space for the kids to run. So, of course, they hadn't been able to wait much to start a family, and Jason had come to their lives four years ago. Getting used to being parents had been hard but amazing, and their friends and family had been an awesome help. So when Cooper moved to New York some time later for his new TV show and then they adopted Madison only a few months ago, life felt so perfect that sometimes Sam felt like crying with emotion.

"You okay?" Blaine asked softly at his side, sensing all the emotions in him, to which Sam could only smile. Because Blaine becoming a father hadn't made him change at all and he still noticed and cared about every little thing about him.

"I'm perfect" Sam honestly answered with a smile as he threw his arm around Blaine's shoulders and brought him closer to him to kiss his cheek, and then Maddie's. "We're perfect"

Blaine's face beamed with happiness when he understood what Sam meant and nestled more closely to his side in a rush of affection.

"We are" he answered with a smile as he watched Cooper reposition Jason until he was sitting on his shoulders and thanked the universe for the wonderful family he had.

It didn't take them a short time to get everything ready for their day at the beach, as Blaine was practically obsessive with protecting the children from the sun. He got a couple of big towels for them out of his bag and laid them on the sand while Sam managed to get the enormous beach umbrella ready according to Blaine's instructions.

"Come here, sweetie" Blaine called Jason before the kid would start running and rolling down on the sand, as he usually did. "I need to put some sunscreen on you so you won't get sunburned"

"But daddy, you already did at the house!" Jason complained, though he still complied with his father's wishes and went to him, knowing he couldn't win.

"Well, a bit more won't hurt, just in case" Blaine answered as he placed Madison in the middle of the towels, that were lying together, and sat down himself next to her. "And you get ready, Maddie, you're next"

"She's not even under the sun" Jason said as he tried hard not to rush his daddy to be quicker with the lotion spreading, as he was getting pretty impatient to start playing with the sand.

"Just in case" Blaine repeated in a mutter, even though he knew Jay was right and Madison was happily sitting under the umbrella's shadow.

"You say that a lot, daddy" Jason observed with all the innocence in the world as Blaine finished getting him ready and gently pushed him towards his sand tools, at the feet of the towel.

"What?" Blaine asked as he heard Sam chuckle and turned to see him sit next to him.

"Nothing" Sam answered trying hard not to laugh as Blaine transferred Maddie to his lap to put some sunscreen on her skin even if everyone thought it was unnecessary.

"Even the kids can see how overprotective you're being" Cooper joked while he lied down on his own towel, right under the sun.

"Well, they'll thank me later when they don't look like a tomato like their uncle. You should really put on some sunscreen yourself, you know"

"No way" Cooper answered as he put his arms under his head in which looked like the image of happiness. "Haven't gotten my beautiful tan since I moved to New York, I'm not missing this opportunity now"

"Sure, red has always suited you anyway" Blaine sarcastically answered before turning to his husband. "And you…"

"You already put it on me before we left the house, remember?" Sam was quick to answer with his hands in front of him to stop his crazy husband.

"Oh, you're right" Blaine admitted, even if he couldn't stop himself. "But don't forget to put some again in a while, you know you get burned quite easily"

"I will, mommy" Sam answered in a joking tone even if he lovingly pinched Blaine's cheek to make himself forgiven for his insolence.

"You all need to leave me alone" Blaine complained with a pout even if he could hardly keep a smile out of his face.

"You love us" Sam answered with a chuckle, but he still stretched to kiss his husband's cheek over their daughter, still sitting in Blaine's lap while digging her own chubby hands on the sand just to experiment with it.

No one was in a rush to move for a good while, given the exquisite temperature and the gentle breeze caressing their skins. They wanted to have a bath, but they had all the time in the world, and Jason seemed to be quite entertained with his tools anyway, trying to build a castle.

"Can I go and get some water in my bucket so I can wet the sand?" Jason asked after a while.

"Of course you can, buddy, but don't go any further than for the water to cover your feet" Sam answered, sitting up so he was sure he would be able to see his son from his place, even if they were only a few feet away from the shore.

"Wait, I will go with you" Blaine immediately offered while standing up.

"We can see him from here, you can stay and relax" Sam intervened, wanting for Blaine to rest once and for all.

"It's not a big deal, I wanted to taste the water's temperature anyway" Blaine half lied as he transferred his daughter to Sam's lap with a smile to reassure him that everything was alright.

Sam sighed as he held the baby more closely to his chest, watching his husband taking their son's hand to accompany him to the water. He couldn't say he was acting exactly weird, as Blaine tended to be a bit overprotective of the kids every now and then, especially when they were not at home and in a familiar environment. But… there was something about him these days, as if he couldn't bring himself to relax even for a second. He never complained or made a wry face, not even sigh, but Sam knew him like the back of his hand and he knew Blaine was stressed, or even anxious. He hadn't stopped taking care of everyone since they had arrived to Los Angeles the day before, and he didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.

"Is there something wrong with Blaine?" Cooper suddenly asked, as if he had been reading his mind, and Sam had to smile at the way Cooper tried not to sound worried even if he had even sat up to look at his brother go too.

"No, not really" Sam answered, trying to play down the importance of it while he started rocking Madison in his knees until the eight-month old started laughing. "I think he's just a bit overwhelmed with the trip, that's all"

"So you noticed it too, right?" Cooper answered with a sigh, not happy that his suspicions had been proven right. "How he can't seem to stop for a second and needs to be in control of absolutely anything?"

"Of course I noticed" Sam answered, rolling his eyes at the absurdity of the question. As if there was a way he was not going to notice something about the love of his life. "But it's nothing, I know him. He just need a bit of relax and for someone to remind him he doesn't need to be perfect every minute of the day"

"I think I'll let you have the second part, though maybe I can help with the first one" Cooper answered, even if Sam didn't exactly understand what he meant.

Though he didn't have the chance to ask because Blaine and Jason went back to them in that precise moment.

"How was the water, love?" Sam asked with a loving and attentive smile towards his husband that was immediately reciprocated.

"It was a bit cold, but nice enough" he answered as he moved to take his place in the towels back, though he seemed to think twice about it and pushed his son towards it instead. "Jay, why don't you sit there under the umbrella?"

"There is no room for everyone" Jason distractedly answered, only interested in his tools.

"You sit there with Papa and Maddie. I'll sit here" Blaine answered as he let himself fall in front of his family, directly on the sand and out of the umbrella's protection. "That way you can teach your sister how to make a sand castle. You're quite an expert, after all"

"Okay" he easily agreed, as he enjoyed teaching his little sister anything very much because it made him feel big and important. "Just let her here, Papa"

"Okay" Sam answered with a chuckle as he obeyed and let the baby on the ground, making sure that her back was resting against his leg to prevent her from falling backwards, as she was still a bit unstable sometimes when sitting on her own. "You show her how to make a big castle, buddy"

Blaine and Sam could hardly keep their eyes from the pair, fascinated at the way Jason was so careful and understanding with his little sister and how adoringly she looked at him, as if she wanted to absorb everything he was telling him even if he couldn't understand a word. Every now and then, they exchanged a knowing gaze and a smile, as if wanting to share all their happiness with their significant other, and Sam was glad to see Blaine getting a bit more relaxed, even if he couldn't stop himself from supervising every minute of the game. And Sam was looking intently at him when he noticed how his shoulders seemed to be getting a bit redder than a while ago.

"B?" Sam said in a soft voice, not wanting to interrupt the magic moment of his family.

"Hmm?" Blaine murmured as he carefully helped Jay with one of the towers so it wouldn't fall for a third time.

"Did you put sunscreen on yourself?" Sam pointedly asked, and he had to fight hard not to laugh at how adorable his husband's expression was when he guiltily realized he hadn't.

"I think I forgot" Blaine answered, and by the shocked expression in his face, it was easy to see he was being totally honest.

"Get under the umbrella right now" Sam gently ordered him before he turned to the bag they had carried with their things to look for the sunscreen bottle. "Of all the irresponsible things to do…"

"I don't know how it happened" Blaine answered, his face blushing with embarrassment at the fact he had been bugging everyone with the lotion and he hadn't been using it himself, as he walked under the umbrella.

"Oh, I know how it happened" Sam answered as he grabbed Blaine's hand to pull him down and make him sit. "Can you stop for a second so someone can take care of you for a change?"

Cooper looked amusedly at the couple, fondly shaking his head at them, and knew there had come the time for him to intervene.

"Ok, I think I'm going to let you enjoy your moment" he said, not even trying to deny he intended for them to have a quiet moment for themselves, as he stood up from his place. "Give me the princess"

Sam hurried to comply, lifting his daughter from the ground so her uncle could easily pick her up, understanding now what Cooper had meant about helping Blaine relax.

"You don't have to, Coop" Blaine gratefully intervened, also understanding his brother's intentions.

"It's okay, I was getting tired of just laying down anyway" Cooper answered as he easily accommodated Madison in his arms and then turned to Jason. "Hey, Jay, let's take a walk"

"No, I want to stay here with Papa and Daddy" the child refused. "I want to finish the castle"

"Oh, don't worry, your daddies will take care of it in your absence" Cooper insisted, knowing it was precisely Jason the one he needed to take away to give the couple a moment –as Maddie was still so young she could have fallen asleep anyway.

"But I have to finish it first" Jason stubbornly protested, not even lifting his eyes from his masterpiece.

"Maddie and I are going, you know"

"It's okay"

"You don't want to come?"

"No, Daddy's helping me make a big castle"

"He can help you later" Cooper patiently insisted, not willing to let a four-year-old win.

"He can also help me now" Jason answered in his perfectly reasonable child-logic.

"And what if Daddy needs a rest?"

"Daddy's never tired" Jason easily responded, to which Blaine widely opened his eyes in surprise: so that's the image his son had of him?

One look at his husband, though, and Blaine could see that Sam was thinking exactly the same: that he really needed a rest.

"You can't win with this kid, right?" Cooper muttered under his breath before going for a last attempt. "Ok, stay here if you want to"

"Okay" Jason happily answered, to which Sam couldn't help but to snort.

"But it's such a pity, because Maddie and I were talking before about buying some ice-cream in our way..."

"Maddie can't talk yet" Jason replied with a distrustful tone.

"What do you mean? Of course she can talk! And she told me she was just going to have the biggest ice-cream ever! What flavor did you say, sweetie?" Cooper said before lifting the baby closer to his face so it would look as if she was whispering in his ear. "Oh, vanilla, that's right. Just as your daddy"

"Can I have strawberry ice-cream?" Jason asked after thinking in-depth about it for a few seconds, trying to asset if his uncle was pulling his hair or not.

"Of course, whatever you want" Cooper gladly agreed as he stretched his hand for Jason to take it.

"Ok, then let's go" Jason happily answered while rising up to his feet and taking his favorite uncle's hand.

"Thanks, Coop" Sam said with a grateful smile towards his brother-in-law, who no matter how much time passed, was still so protective of his little brother.

"No problem" Cooper answered with a mischievous smile. "Those kids are going to be a chicks magnet"

"Wait, Coop, you're forgetting Maddie's cap" Blaine said while handing the cap to his brother and trying to ignore his last comment.

"Of course, how could I forget?" Cooper sarcastically replied, even if he obeyed and carefully put the cap in Maddie's head.

"Maybe I should put some more sunscreen on her before you go?" Blaine suggested, and he was getting a bit too anxious for Sam to still find it funny. "Babies' skin is so delicate"

"More?" Cooper exclaimed. "Blaine, she's so slippery from the last time you put sunscreen on her, which was about two minutes ago, than I'm afraid she will pop out of my arms"

"Then maybe you should just take Jay and leave her here with us" Blaine replied, stretching his arms in front of him to receive his previous child.

"Ok, B, you really need to relax" Sam intervened, more seriously this time, while taking Blaine's hands in his to make him lower them. "Nothing will happen to Maddie, Cooper will take care of her"

"I know, but..." Blaine tried to find the words to justify himself without offending his brother.

"I was just kidding, Squirt" Cooper added, putting the joking aside to calm his brother down while his eyes turned to his niece, still in his arms. "You really think I don't love this little thing with all my heart? I would never let anything happen to her or Jason"

"I know that, Coop. It's just... she's still so little..."

"Look who's talking"

"I would tell you where you can go now, but I won't because there are children at earshot" Blaine mumbled in a fake angry tone, but he knew he hadn't fooled anyone when both Sam and Cooper burst out laughing.

"We'll be back in a little while" Cooper announced while taking Jason's hand again. "Don't get too comfortable"

"Don't rush it!" Sam practically yelled at their back, hoping to get Blaine in a better mood.

And he was glad to see he had achieved it when he saw his husband smiling, even if his eyes were still on those three people he adored so much. Well, time to relax and for some loving action, Sam thought.

"Now come here" Sam tenderly ordered even if he didn't give Blaine time to react and moved instead to sit behind him, one leg at each side of his husband's, and let some sunscreen fall in Blaine's back. "It's time someone takes care of you too, you know"

"Be my guest" Blaine joked, even if he couldn't help himself and sighed at how pleasurable Sam's hands slowly sliding along his back felt.

"You're a bit tense" Sam commented while his hand stopped just spreading the lotion and started working on losing the knots on Blaine's back instead. "What's wrong, love?"

"What's wrong?" Blaine repeated, a bit confused at the question.

"I asked first" Sam answered with a fond smile: of course Blaine wouldn't even realize how tense he was. "I mean why are you so anxious?"

"Am I?" Blaine asked even if Sam's miraculous hands were making it hard for him to care about anything else.

"You are" Sam confirmed. "Look at how hard it was for you to let Cooper take care of the kids for a while, even though you know how good he is to them. Some would say you're a first-time dad"

"I know I'm not, but... it's been so long since Jay was that small..." Blaine admitted with a frustrated sigh. "I guess I've forgotten how to act around babies"

"Come on, as if you weren't the most wonderful parent there is!" Sam said as his arm appeared to close around Blaine's shoulders and those wonderful and full lips rested a kiss on the side of his neck. "And I'm sure Jay would agree with me on that"

"You think I'm going to do it right?" Blaine asked in a hopeful tone, letting himself fall slightly backwards until his back made contact with his husband's chest.

"Of course, Blaine!" Sam answered with a fond chuckle as his hands moved to spread some sunscreen around Blaine's chest and belly too. "Same as you've been doing with Jay all this time!"

"But it's different this time, you know?" Blaine continued, wanting to be completely honest and expose all his worries to the person he knew would never judge him. "There are two of them now, depending on us, and they need us so much..."

"Well, so we'll just have to divide our attentions and administer our time better, that's all" Sam easily reassured him, glad Blaine was trusting him with his insecurities and that they hadn't lost their ability to communicate even after all that time. "Everything else will be alright"

"You think?"

"Of course!" Sam answered with a chuckle before his hands moved a bit more mischievously around Blaine's chest and he gently bit on Blaine's earlobe.

Blaine sighed at his lover's ministrations even if they knew they couldn't take them further than that –they were in a public and family-friendly place, after all, and Cooper and the kids could come back any moment–. But that wasn't going to stop him from enjoying what he could get and he let himself fall completely on Sam's chest, the latter's arms immediately closing around his waist in the most loving way.

"Don't you ever get scared that we are going to fail in the most important job of our lives?" Blaine tentatively asked while his hands gently caressed Sam's legs, still resting at each side of him.

"Not really" Sam answered, one of his hands slowly getting lost in the wildness of Blaine's curls for one of those scalp massages that never failed to relax him. "Of course I worry sometimes and I think a lot about the best possible way to do raise our children, but… I'm not scared. We didn't do it so bad with Jason, did we?"

"No" Blaine was forced to admit with a smile.

"And we were so green then, now that we're experts we're going to do it even better"

"You're right" Blaine agreed as he twisted his neck to be able to plant a grateful kiss on Sam's cheek. "I can't wait for my father to meet Maddie tomorrow"

"Gosh, he's going to love her" Sam replied with the widest smile, his heart never failing to burst with happiness every time he remembered how Blaine had regained his relationship with his father, better than it had ever been, and how now he had become such an important part of their world, even if they didn't see him as often as they would like. "You know how great he is with Jason, so imagine him now that he finally will be getting his much desired princess, after always having boys around"

"I would have never imagined my father doing the silly things he does just to get his grandson laughing. It's amazing to see!" Blaine commented with a chuckle that was immediately reciprocated.

"It is. And now that he will have two kids to entertain, it will be even more amazing!"

Both of them burst out laughing about the possibility of watching the great Don Anderson making a fool of himself for such a demanding audience as his grandchildren just the day after, when he would be meeting for some family holiday at Cooper's Californian mansion. And judging by how much Jason adored him –and they hoped Maddie would too–, he was being quite successful. After all, Blaine's and Cooper's passion for entertainment must have come from somewhere, right?

"Thanks, Sammy" Blaine said after a while, breaking the comfortable silence.

"What for?"

"For always understanding me. Even when I don't understand myself"

"Come here" Sam answered, moved by Blaine's words even if he had heard them a thousand times before, while closing his arms more strongly around Blaine's chest in a strong embrace. "I think you're just finding it a bit difficult to adjust to being four of us at home now, that's all, and for us to leave home just magnified the feeling"

"Maybe" Blaine admitted with a nod of his head because, as usual, Sam had figured out what was wrong with him even before he did it himself.

"It's not easy dealing with a baby, and I know you've always worried about not knowing how to be a good father. That's the kind of a worrier you are, right? But let me tell you, that worry is completely unjustified"

"Thank you, love"

"But even the best of fathers need a little break every now and then. Why don't I take you out on a date tonight?" Sam suggested out of the blue. He hadn't thought about that before saying it, but the truth was they hadn't had an evening for themselves for so long… that suddenly it felt like the greatest idea ever. "A romantic dinner, just you and me. I'm sure Cooper won't mind staying with the kids for a little while"

"You think it's a good idea?" Blaine asked even if he knew he was going to let himself be convinced because he wanted it just as much as Sam seemed to do.

"Yeah! You and I know that we both need some time for ourselves, and it's also a good chance for you to show your brother that you really trust him, after just doubting him to safely get the kids an ice-cream"

"Oh gosh, you think he was offended?" Blaine asked, feeling mortified until Sam's laughter confirmed that he was only joking.

"Of course not, he knows you, he knows you just need a little reassurance that everything will be alright every now and then" Sam explained with a kiss to the side of Blaine's neck, as if to remind him how much he loved him and how he didn't mind at all being the one to do the reassuring.

"You're so sweet…" Blaine praised him while snuggling closer to his chest, even in spite of the warmth. "Ok, let's have a date. If Cooper agrees, of course"

"We could go to that little cozy restaurant we went when we were here the week before our wedding, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Blaine answered with a dreamy smile as he remembered those wonderful days prior to the happiest day of his life. "Did you ever think we would end up like this?"

"You mean this happy?" Sam asked, wanting to make sure he had understood.

"Yeah"

"Yeah" he answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Yeah?" Blaine repeated with a smile.

"Yeah. From the exact moment you said you loved me back and that you were ready to give us a chance"

"Gosh, I don't know why it took me so long" Blaine lamented, not for the first time in his life.

"I know, right? I was quite a catch already" Sam joked, his heart swelling with love when Blaine burst out laughing.

"That you were" he admitted between laughs.

"You just took the time you needed to make sure everything would work out because you didn't want to hurt me" Sam explained with a kiss to the side of Blaine's face, wanting to make him understand he would never reproach him for that. "And considering how everything went after that… I have to say I wouldn't change a thing"

"Me neither" Blaine agreed while resting his hands on top of Sam's, still resting on his own belly, to entwine their fingers together.

"I mean we just celebrated our tenth anniversary a couple of weeks ago. That's quite impressive"

"It is"

"Who knew I was going to put up with you for so long?"

"Hey!"

"What?" Sam asked with feigned innocence, hardly able to stop himself from laughing. "You steal the blankets EVERY night! And you make me eat broccoli practically every day!"

"That's not true!" Blaine protested with a playful slap at Sam's arm.

"It so is! And you make me watch _Finding Nemo_ all the time! You even gang up on me with Jay so I won't be able to say no!" Sam continued with his tirade about how hard it was to live with Blaine, even if both of them knew it was completely fake.

"You love it!" Blaine accused him, even pointing his finger at Sam's face for a better effect.

"I did the first twenty times! And speaking of the kids, you won't even let them near me when you push me into my office for work as if I was a little kid!"

"Well, someone needs to keep you in check when you work at home! Otherwise you would never get anything done!"

"See? All in all you've been quite a nightmare for the last ten years" Sam finished with a dramatic sigh.

"Well, thanks, I love you too!" Blaine sarcastically replied, even if he couldn't help a snort at his husband's silliness.

"But you know what?" Sam said, and his voice sounded so tender and loving that Blaine knew he was not going to joke anymore and he sighed in preparation for it. "If you get to steal the blankets every night it's because you have given me the chance to sleep next to you every single night for the past ten years and for your smile to be the first thing I see every morning. And that makes it all worth it, you know? Especially when it makes us cuddle all night long for some extra warmth. And if you make me eat broccoli every now and then it's because you're so amazing that you cook for me every day and because you care so much about keeping me healthy"

"Of course I care, you're my hubby" Blaine answered, his voice not more than a whisper in fear it was going to break with emotion.

"And don't think I don't know why you love _Finding Nemo_ so much and why you forced it on our son so it would be his favorite movie and he would want to watch it all the time. It's because it was the first movie we ever watched together, right? We were supposed to meet to go to the comic store, shortly after we started becoming close friends in senior year, but it was pouring so we decided to shelter in that horrible cinema on our way. The only movie showing there was _Finding Nemo 3D_ and we decided to go in even if both of us had already watched it before and thought ourselves too old and mature for children movies. And although it was such a sleazy theatre and the 3D system and the sound was horrible, we had the time of our lives impersonating the characters, remember? Even the kids in the place told us to shut up!" Sam explained, fondly laughing at the memory. "We were speaking whale between us for weeks after that"

Blaine half laughed, half cried at Sam's words, moved to no end that he would remember something like that after more than fifteen years, and the fact that he had guessed exactly what was going on in Blaine's head and why he loved that movie so much.

"I didn't know you remembered that" Blaine confessed, and he wasn't surprised when one of Sam's thumbs came to collect a stray tear in his cheek without making a fuss over it.

"How could I forget?" Sam asked, equally moved at the memory. "It was our first date, in a way"

"I guess it was"

"And I also know you make me lock myself in my office at home so the kids won't bother me while I work because you've always cared so much about my career…" Sam continued, unconsciously squeezing Blaine's body more strongly to him in gratitude for all those years of unconditional support and faith in his talent. "There was a time in my life when I just met one failure after the other and I thought I would never achieve anything and… Look at me now: happily married for ten years, father of two wonderful kids, with my own successful comic book about to make it into Hollywood and starting to get a name as a painter. But it was you who made everything happen. The common aspect in all my successes is you"

"Sammy…" Blaine tried to say something, anything to let Sam know he felt exactly the same way about him, but the knot on his throat didn't let him find his voice.

"So do you really think I can be scared of anything with you by my side? It's impossible" Sam continued, placing a loving kiss on Blaine's forehead. "Because you can do anything. And together we can take care of one, two or twenty children if we want to. And it will be amazing, just like everything else was"

Blaine turned partially on his side so he would be able to embrace his husband with all his forces after the declaration of love he had just given him. He would have let himself break down in tears –happy tears– if he didn't know their children were going to make an apparition very soon. Just the strength of Sam's arms around him, and the warmth of Sam's chest under him, kept him from breaking down at the reminder of how lucky he was. Because Sam was right: as long as they were together, there was nothing they couldn't do.

"I love you" Blaine said after a while, lifting his head enough to be able to capture Sam's lips in a sweet and long kiss full of promises of future.

"I love you more" Sam answered against Blaine's lips, feeling the smile in them at his predictable answer.

"No way" Blaine retorted before letting his head fall on Sam's shoulder again so he could continue enjoying the latter's embrace.

And it was like that that the others found them a while later.

"Guys, please" a mocking voice interrupted their peaceful and loving moment. "The kids"

"The kids know their parents love each other, thank you very much" Sam replied proudly, not making a move to let go of his beautiful husband just yet because it was not something they needed to be ashamed of.

"Oh gosh" Blaine exclaimed with a chuckle as he got to see his children's faces, very dirty and full of ice-cream. "So did you enjoy your ice-cream?"

"It was delicious" Jason answered happily, still licking his fingers, before rushing to fall in Blaine's arms, a bit jealous he was not being part of their parents' embrace.

Since the three of them were tangled on the same towel, Cooper moved to sit on the other one instead of his own, and he hadn't even made it all the way to the floor, with Madison still in his arms, when the baby stretched her arms towards the family too.

"Oh, this ungrateful lady wants her daddy" Cooper joked as he transferred said lady to Blaine's free arm.

"She's just crazy about her daddy" Sam commented with a smile, resting a knowing kiss to the side of Blaine's neck while Jason started climbing on them until he was proudly sitting on Sam's shoulders.

"Gosh, I need to take a picture of this" Cooper announced after a moment, smiling at the image of the full family in one big embrace, with Sam still hugging Blaine from behind with their son in his shoulders while Blaine held little Madison in his arms. So he took his phone out of his pocket and took a picture of the moment, glad to see his brother more relaxed.

"Little brother, you're looking 100% more relaxed than just a while ago" he commented.

"I know" Blaine answered, looking back knowingly at his husband.

"I think you're a bit stressed. Maybe you should go out with your husband every now and then" Cooper casually said, which Sam took it as an opportunity to make his request so he pretended to cough, hoping Blaine would get it.

"Speaking of that" Blaine said, perfectly understanding, "my husband and I were thinking about having a romantic date tonight"

"I think that's a great idea" Cooper agreed, thinking how that was exactly what Blaine needed that day.

"We're glad you see it like that, because well... you know... someone needs to take care of the kids" Sam continued with all the innocence he could muster.

"Oh no" Cooper answered, starting to shake his head.

"And we thought that you..." Blaine added in a tentatively way.

"No, stop it right there. I forbid you to continue" Cooper warned them with an accusatory finger.

"You said I needed to go out" Blaine argued.

"Not at my expense!" Cooper protested.

"Please, Coop, you know I wouldn't trust anybody else for the job and they love their uncle so much..." Blaine pleaded, hoping the love Cooper obviously felt for the kids would be enough to melt his resistances.

"You're not going to convince me with flattery, young man" Cooper warned him, even if Blaine was sure he was already caving in.

"It would be a good chance for you to bond with your niece and nephew, you know"

"I thought they already loved me so much!"

"And they do! But isn't it nice that we are having this vacation in your home so they can get to spend more time with you?"

"Blaine, I moved to New York two years ago, I live in your same neighbourhood! I see these kids practically every day!" Cooper protested emphatically, afraid he might be losing the battle.

"Ok, Cooper, we understand" Sam intervened, in what he hoped sounded like a comprehensive voice. "Taking care of two children so young is hard and I'm sure you've got more important things to do"

"Well..." Cooper tried to protest, starting to feel guilty, but Sam never gave him the chance.

"I mean, we haven't been out, not once, since before Maddie arrived, so of course we understand how stressful it is"

"Yeah, but..."

"It's a pity, though, you know? I mean if I had the time, maybe I could just send a message to my new and very beautiful, and did I mention single, editor? You know, to ask her if she's free next Friday to meet the great Cooper Anderson. You know, she's your biggest fan and she's been bugging me for weeks to introduce you to her since she found out you are my brother-in-law..."

"Wait" Cooper tried to stop him, but Sam knew he was winning so he kept on without giving him the chance to protest.

"But what are we going to do? We have to take care of the kids, I doubt I will have the chance to even send a text to her" Sam falsely lamented, to which Blaine nodded in faked agreement.

"Is she really that hot?" Cooper asked, not even pretending he wasn't interested in the blackmail.

"Coop, the kids" Blaine gently admonished his brother.

"Sorry, is she really so beautiful and nice?" Cooper corrected himself, even if he still wanted his answer.

"Wait, I think there might be a picture of her in the company's website" Sam answered, searching for it on his phone until he found it and showed it at his brother-in-law. "Yes, there she is"

Cooper took the phone from Sam's hand and brought it closer to him so he could have a long look at the picture. And even if he could hardly deny he liked what he was seeing, he feigned thinking deeply about it just for the sake of it.

"You know what, guys?" he said after a few seconds while he handed the phone back to his owner. "I really think you need a break. And well, the kids will be asleep in no time, after all, right? I guess it's not that big a deal, I can watch them until you're back from your romantic date. I mean, you really deserve it, and what wouldn't I do for my brother, right?"

"You're so generous" Blaine sarcastically answered, but the smile in his face belied how really grateful he was to his brother. "But thanks anyway"

"You're welcome" he answered with an honest smile this time. "But wait, why haven't you told me about her before?"

"I was waiting for the right moment" Sam confessed with a mischievous smile.

"You bastard" Cooper exclaimed.

"Coop!" Blaine reprimanded him again, more sternly this time.

"Sorry! I can't help it!" Cooper half-heartedly apologized.

"I think we should reconsider tonight's arrangement" Blaine said, looking doubtfully over his shoulder towards his husband.

"No!" Both Sam and Cooper yelled at the same time.

"Ok, it was just a suggestion" Blaine answered in embarrassment, to which the other two started laughing.

"We're just going to go out as we planned" Sam told him, leaving no room for argument. "Cooper will stay with the kids, with a little bit of luck he will keep them alive…"

"Hey!" Cooper protested, feigning to be deeply offended.

"And we'll have the most amazing time until you're totally relaxed, completely happy and ready for our vacation, alright?"

"Alright" Blaine agreed with a smile.

"Because I love you" Sam insisted.

"I love you too, daddy" Jason added, because growing up in such a loving environment had made him totally unreserved and comfortable about expressing his feelings.

"Aw, come here, sweetheart" Blaine said, totally moved by his son's sweetness, as he left Madison on the ground for a second to kneel up so he could take his oldest son in the embrace he deserved. "I love you too, my little cupcake"

"Can we get into the water now?" Jason asked, already moving to other things, which made his parents laugh.

"Of course we can, buddy" Blaine answered as he left the boy back on the ground. "I'll race you there!"

"That's cheating!" Jason said as he ran after his daddy even if he could hardly stop laughing.

Sam smiled fondly at them before he turned to the little girl looking curiously at him and holding her little and chubby arms towards him as she didn't want to be left behind.

"What do you say, sweetie? You ready for your first dip in the ocean?" Sam said as he took her in his arms and stood up to follow the rest of his family. "You coming, Coop?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" the other man answered with a tickle to Madison's middle that immediately made her laugh.

When Sam made it to the shore he was surprised Blaine and Jason were already in the water, not caring about how cold it was, playing like they didn't have a care in the world. Blaine immediately turned around at Sam's call, because Sam knew him so well that he knew he would never want to miss Madison's first swim in the ocean, and smiled in gratitude. Cooper took his place in playing with Jason, as the kid loved how his uncle would throw him up in the air so he would fall into the water –just as he used to do with Blaine when he was little–, and Blaine ran to the other two and took Maddie's hand in his while Sam started walking into the water. Maddie's breath got shorter for a second when the cold water reached her belly, in spite of how slow Sam was going, and both her parents laughed wholeheartedly when she realized she was surrounded by water, which she loved, and started splashing around in excitement. Blaine thought she had never seen her so happy as she was when Sam playfully pretended to throw her towards him and she laughed like crazy, so he could only hold her close to his chest for a moment in a rush of emotion. And he thought his heart was going to melt when he _threw_ her back to Papa's arms and she let out another belly laugh that made Jason laugh too.

Blaine looked at Jason, playing with his uncle, who was pretending he was losing in a fight with the child, and at little Maddie, happily playing with her Papa's face as the latter jokingly tried to bite her hand, and wondered, not for the first time, what he had done to deserve such a happiness. But when Sam caught his eye and mouthed a familiar "I love you" to him, he decided he didn't care anymore. From then on, he was just going to enjoy it.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _So it wasn't easy writing about a beach day with winter knocking on my door, but well... ;)_

 _Please, let me know what you thought!_

 _And well, if there is some episode mentioned in the "A long race" universe you'd like to see more developed, let me know! ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_ _Well, second drabble! This is based on Sam's flashback in the beach chapter, when he remembered the first time he and Blaine had hung out together back in senior year and had ended up on a cinema. So remember, this goes before everything that happened in "A long race", so obviously could be read as pre-slash or even just the beginning of blam freindship._

 _Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

 **FINDING NEMO (AND EACH OTHER)**

Blaine looked nervously at the clock on his wall while fighting to fit into his tight jeans and button his cardigan at the same time. Damn it, he was going to be late. It was the first time he was meeting Sam outside of school, now that they were becoming friends –close friends– after running for school council together and getting to know each other better. And Blaine couldn't deny he was a bit nervous about it: sure, they seemed to get along quite nicely, and Sam seemed to like him quite enough considering all the trouble he had gone to just to stop him from transferring to Dalton only a week ago. But what if that was just in school? What if they didn't have that much in common once they got to spend more time together? Blaine didn't think he could survive again feeling so lost and alone in the glee club, after Kurt and the rest of the alumni left, if things with Sam didn't work out. And he couldn't deny he was starting to really like Sam, and he would be very disappointed if they couldn't make their incipient friendship work.

Gosh, he was overthinking again. He was already late because he had spent the day thinking until his head hurt, worrying, waiting. As it usually happened lately, Blaine hadn't been able to stop himself and had texted Kurt again, hoping to get some answer from him –that obviously didn't get–. Of course he knew how angry Kurt still was at him after his affair with Eli, considering not once he had conceded to talk to him since the breakup. And he understood, of course, considering he couldn't even forgive himself for cheating on him. But it hurt to know Kurt didn't seem to even care about him anymore. Blaine was sure Finn would have told him about him being so depressed he had almost transferred to Dalton. And yet Kurt hadn't even tried to reach him to see if he was alright. Blaine could understand that Kurt didn't want to give him another chance as a boyfriend, but forgetting about him like that? That's how little impact Blaine had had in his life?

It was not like Kurt wasn't partly to blame, Blaine had to remind himself. Even if he had been wrong to cheat on him instead of directly confronting him about how much he was hurting him with his indifference, the fact was that Kurt had completely neglected him for weeks, practically forgetting about his existence, even when Blaine had needed him so much. And yes, Blaine still felt incredibly guilty, but Sam had made him see it was not only his fault and that he had the right to forgive himself for that. Sam had said he was one of the good guys. And Sam never lied, right?

That was the difference now: Sam. Sam was willing to be there for him, top show him that he cared about him. Sam had made him feel good and important again, had given him a reason to raise his head again and be proud of who he was. And he was not going to let Kurt ruin that wonderful day they had planned, he thought while resolutely nodding his head at himself: from then on, that day only he and Sam existed. And he wasn't going to talk about Kurt or wait for his answer or even think about him. He had the right to be happy again, with or without him.

As he looked at his reflection, Blaine wondered if his casual outfit was the most appropriate for the day, but he didn't have the time to change anyway. But it didn't matter: it was Sam he was meeting, for God's sake, Sam didn't care about that. They were only supposed to go downtown, to that comic store Sam loved so much, both because he wanted to share it with Blaine and because he was dying to buy that comic book, collector's edition, he had been saving for for so long. But Blaine was planning to invite him for some pizzas or something after that, as a thank you for being there for him in those horrible times. So yeah, it was going to be a wonderful evening. Even if he was going to be late!

He ran down the stairs of his home and put on his jacket in record time, not even stopping to say goodbye to his parents, who were probably watching TV in the living room. Not that they cared much about where he was going anyway, but whatever.

"Mom!" he yelled from the door. "I'm leaving now, I'm late! See you later!"

"Ok, Blaine, don't forget…" her mother tried to warn him to pick up an umbrella, even if she knew he would probably lose it anyway, but he was out the door before she was able to.

Of course the distant thunder he had been hearing all afternoon should have given him some clues about what was going to happen, but it wasn't until a couple of blocks later when the first drops started falling on him. Great, just what he needed. But he couldn't go back, he was late enough as it was, and it would probably stop before doing more damage.

He could have kicked himself on the chin several blocks later, when it started pouring like he had never seen before. He took shelter under some balcony and reached for his pocket where his phone was so he could text Sam and warn him he was going to be late –or even later than expected–. Or where his phone was supposed to be, he realized when he noticed the pocket was empty. Damn it, he had wasted all morning waiting for some answer from Kurt and the only thing he had gotten from it was to forget his phone right there, on his desk. So if he didn't have any way to warn Sam of his tardiness, the only thing he could do was not to be late, or Sam would probably worry –he was kind like that. So it was time for a run.

He doubted he had ever gotten so drenched outside a shower, as not even his jacket was protecting him anymore. He was soaking wet and incredibly cold, and he was cursing himself for having let Kurt get him so absorbed again that he had ignored the storm, he was late and he had ignored his mother when she was probably just trying to warn him about exactly that. Could things get any worse than that?

His sour mood, though, disappeared in an instant when he reached the corner where he was supposed to meet Sam and there he was, handsome as ever, pacing impatiently as he fumbled with his phone. Because Sam usually had that calming effect on him, and nothing was bad enough to ruin his day when Sam was near.

"Hey" Blaine said as he tapped the back of Sam's shoulder with the tip of his fingers to get his attention.

"Hey!" Sam answered with a happy expression as he turned around to greet his friend, but his smile quickly disappeared when he noticed the state he was in. "What happened to you? Gosh, you're soaked to the skin"

"I… I forgot my umbrella" Blaine answered, feeling incredibly stupid now he was standing right in front of his perfectly dry friend.

"Get under mine right now!" Sam ordered him as he put his arm around Blaine's upper body to bring him closer so they could both fit under his folding umbrella. "I was worried about you with you being late with this weather, that's why I was calling you, but you didn't pick it up"

"I'm sorry, I forgot my phone at home" Blaine again excused himself with embarrassment, though his chest warmed with the fact that Sam was not reproaching him for anything but worrying about his wellbeing.

"Going out like this in this weather, what were you thinking?" Sam gently reprimanded him.

"I guess I wasn't" Blaine confessed, thankful for the darkness the awful weather provided so Sam wouldn't notice how strongly his cheeks were blushing –if it was from embarrassment or from the proximity to Sam's warm body, he didn't know.

"We've got to get you somewhere warm and out of these clothes as soon as possible if we don't want you catching pneumonia" Sam replied in a caring tone, and it moved Blaine to no end that he was worrying about him instead of judging him for his carelessness. "Let's forget about the comic shop. There is a movie theatre just around the corner. It's kind of crappy but at least we can take advantage of the heating. We can get warm in there and you can take your sweater off at least. It's dark, no one will notice"

"But you really wanted to buy that comic book…" Blaine protested, feeling awful about ruining Sam's plans, but of course Sam was kinder –and more stubborn– than that.

"We can go any other day, keeping you alive is much more important than that" Sam casually answered while looking at both sides of the street to cross it in the cinema's direction.

"No, but…" Blaine tried to protest again, but he was interrupted when Sam tucked his arm around his as if it wasn't a big thing and pulled on him until he couldn't do anything but to obey.

Sam didn't let go of him during the whole way to the theatre, which felt incredibly long to Blaine and his blushing cheeks even if it wasn't more than a few yards, because the umbrella wasn't that big and it was not easy to have it covering both of their frames. But they managed to get there without further complications, and Sam gently pushed Blaine under the marquee of the place to protect him from the persistent rain.

"There" Sam said as he finally folded his drenching umbrella. "I think it's better for us to stay away from the streets, there is so much water there already that it's only a matter of time until our feet are soaking wet. I mean, on top of everything else for you"

"It's okay, Sam, we don't have to stay here just for my sake" Blaine insisted when he was finally given the chance. "This is not what we had planned, and…"

"Ok, so _Finding Nemo 3D_ it is, apparently" Sam said with a chuckle when he finally got to see the poster of the movie running on the place, totally ignoring Blaine's words because he couldn't care less about their previous plans in favor of keeping him warm and safe. "This craze with 3D and re-releasing perfectly fine bidimensional movies…"

"You don't have to do it"

"No, it's ok"

"But it's a children's movie, and I'm sure you've already watched it with your siblings a thousand times before" Blaine whined, because he felt stupid and guilty that they had to change their plans just because of him.

"So? Don't tell me you feel too old for children's movies?" Sam asked with a mockingly judging frown.

"Never" Blaine answered with a chuckle, marveled more and more with each interaction with Sam at how alike they really were.

"So is it because you've already watched it before?"

"Yes, I have, but I don't mind rewatching movies… I mean, I do it all the time"

"Gosh, I like you more and more the more I get to know you!" Sam happily exclaimed while jokingly punching Blaine's arm.

"Oh, I…" Blaine tried to speak, but he realized Sam's words had left him speechless –and probably blushing, though Sam didn't seem to notice.

"You can't even imagine how many times I've watched _Avatar_ " Sam went on, his voice full of an adorable excitement Blaine felt he would never grow tired of. "I kind of speak Na'vi, you know?"

"Oh, you do?" Blaine exclaimed, honestly impressed at his friend's skills. "You're amazing!"

"Thanks" Sam answered with a modest smile, adorably blushing in a way that told Blaine he was probably not used to people praising him for his intellect. "It's not a big deal"

"Oh, it is" Blaine continued, hating the fact that Sam had always been made to feel as he was stupid, when he clearly wasn't. "Maybe you can show me how you learnt it? I've always wanted to learn Elvish"

"Oh, what a great idea!" Sam practically yelled, so big was his excitement. "We could learn it together, I want to speak Elvish too!"

"Quenya or Sindar?"

"Pleeeeeeease, Quenya, of course, what else?"

They both burst out laughing at that, finding it hard to believe they had found someone to geek about so intensely without having to be embarrassed. But then Blaine shivered before he could stop himself and Sam knew they couldn't stay outside for long if he didn't want his friend to fall ill.

"So don't worry about me watching _Finding Nemo_ again, ok? I'm never going to get tired of it" he quickly tried to convince him, his face still full of a tender smile that Blaine thought suited him better than the usual smirk he gave to everybody else.

"Ok" he admitted, letting himself enjoy Sam's warm arm around him for a second more before starting to move towards the ticket window. "Thanks"

"No problem"

Of course Blaine wouldn't even hear about letting Sam pay for his own ticket, considering they wouldn't even be there if it wasn't because of him and Sam's money was supposed to go to his new comic book –even if he had to buy it another day–. Blaine offered to buy some popcorn and sweets for both of them too, but Sam refused, arguing they were too expensive and he didn't need it. Blaine knew better, though, and he took the chance when Sam went to the bathroom to buy a bucket of popcorn to share, a couple of drinks and more than their share of sweets. And even if Sam pretended to be angry at the big and unnecessary expense, the way his face illuminated when he saw them was enough to warm Blaine's heart endlessly.

Sam didn't pressure Blaine to take off any clothes while the lights were still on, as he knew he got embarrassed easily in some circumstances, but as soon as the movie was about to start and the lights went off, he turned to him in full mother-hen mode.

"Ok, nobody can see you now, take that sweater off before you catch pneumonia" Sam said, his fingers already moving to Blaine's waist to help him roll it off, but Blaine practically slapped them away in a reflex gesture.

"What? You were serious about taking my clothes off?" Blaine exclaimed, once again glad of the darkness that wouldn't belie his massive blushing.

"Of course!" Sam answered, trying not to chuckle at Blaine's obvious discomfort. "You can borrow my sweatshirt, I'm wearing a thick long-sleeved undershirt and I felt too wrapped up anyway"

"No, Sam, I…"

"Geez, it's hard having a conversation with you when every one of your sentences begin with _no_ " Sam joked, aiming for a smile that he was glad to elicit in the end.

"I'm sorry, it's just… I didn't want to cause such trouble" Blaine explained, marveled at how everything seemed to have gone wrong that day and he still felt better than he had done in a really long time.

"What trouble? I'm going to take it off anyway, the heating is too high" Sam said, taking his sweatshirt off to show Blaine he was being honest. "And well, you always smell so good I wouldn't mind some of that scent to get caught in it, you know?"

Blaine's breath caught in his throat for a second at Sam's words until he realized it was a completely innocent comment. But that was Sam: so natural, so authentic and spontaneous, that he would simply say whatever crossed his mind, without worrying how it was going to come out or how _gay_ it made him look. And Blaine loved that about him, and made him feel comfortable and such at ease he wondered how he had managed to survive without Sam in his life for so many years.

"Alright" Blaine finally agreed, checking that no one was looking at them before proceeding to take his sweater off. "Thank you so much"

Blaine thought he was going to faint when Sam's hand started caressing his thigh all of a sudden, and only his explanation kept him from having a heart attack right there and then.

"Your pants are a bit damp too, but I guess we can't fix that"

"Don't worry, I'll be okay" Blaine gratefully answered when he found his voice as he received the sweatshirt.

"Wait" Sam stopped him before he could use the sweatshirt he was lending to him. "Your hair is dripping and it's going to wet the sweatshirt too"

Before Blaine had even the chance to answer, Sam took the discarded sweater from Blaine's hand and used it as a towel to dry Blaine's head, even if the latter tried to squirm away from his reach.

"No, my hair is going to frizz even more!" Blaine protested, but Sam used his superior strength to hold him still and then continued with his task.

"Gosh, you're even more difficult than my little sister!" he joked, hoping the embarrassment of comparing him with a little child would keep Blaine still. And it did. "There. Gosh, your hair is so soft!"

"Great, that means there's no gel left in it" Blaine lamented, even if he couldn't stop himself from enjoying Sam's fingers still playing curiously with his hair.

"You have curly hair?" Sam asked in amazement once he noticed Blaine's hair starting to curl around his fingers.

"You bet I do" Blaine whined. "I look like medusa"

"Oh right, I remember now about last year's prom! It was so funny!" Sam answered with a heartfelt laugh that earned him a shush from the woman in the row behind them that didn't seem to bother Sam that much.

"It wasn't!" Blaine answered, trying to get offended, though it was so hard when Sam laughed like that…

"Come on, you looked adorable" Sam reassured him, giving Blaine's head a last caress before taking the sweatshirt in his hands again and offering to help Blaine get into it. "I'll enjoy seeing those curls again"

"This just gets better and better, right?" Blaine protested, but he couldn't help a smile when Sam covered his shoulders with his own sweatshirt and he got lost into it thanks to his smaller frame.

"Oh, shit, my glasses are broken" Sam said with a pout once he tried to put his 3D glasses on and he discovered one of the temples was missing. "I knew this theatre was pretty lame, but that exceeds my expectations"

"Take mine" Blaine immediately offered without a second thought as he handed his own glasses to his friend.

"No way" Sam refused.

"It's the least I can do, after how wonderful you've been to me today"

"You paid for everything, Blaine, I think we're even"

"Take them, really"

"I'm not taking your glasses"

"Either you take my glasses or I won't take your sweatshirt. You choose" Blaine threatened, even unzipping the garment halfway to show Sam how serious he was until the latter's hand stopped him and snatched the glasses from him in one swift movement.

"You stubborn mule…" Sam muttered in annoyance, but Blaine's ridiculous giggles forced him to smile in the end.

The movie finally started and they kept on a light conversation, as none of them needed to be that concentrated on it because they had already seen it before. Between the snacks and the companionable conversation, Blaine was so comfortable that he stopped trying to keep the broken glasses on his faces and got rid of them altogether, not caring about them or about having to watch the movie blurry as long as Sam was at his side.

"You just gotta keep swimming" Sam reminded him with a smile before he started singing. " _Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming_ "

"Stop!" Blaine said with a laugh, playfully slapping Sam's arm.

" _What do we do_?" Sam went on, ignoring Blaine's reprimand.

" _We swim_ " Blaine finally answered, marveling at how contagious Sam's enthusiasm was, until the same woman from before shushed them again.

"Gosh, you'd think she's watching _Citizen Kane_ or something" Sam complained good-naturedly, and Blaine found his comment so hilarious he choked on his soda and couldn't stop laughing for a while, even after Sam had stopped patting his back in an attempt to stop his coughing.

The movie went on, and Blaine started laughing in advance at what he knew what was going to happen: of course Sam wasn't going to stay quiet at the whale-talking scene.

"What do you think, Blaine, maybe we should learn Whale instead of Elvish" Sam suggested with a mischievous smile that Blaine was quick to reciprocate.

"Sure" he easily agreed with a chuckle.

" _Don't you think I can speak Whale, Blaine_?" Sam asked in his bet Whale impression that of course sent Blaine into full laughter again. " _Oh, look, seems like I already got the hang out of it!_ _You should try it, Blainey_ "

But before Blaine could even try, his own laughter and the horrible woman's intervention –with a couple of shushes coming from the children at each side of her– put a stop to it.

"I've had enough of you two, you shut up right now or I'm getting an usher" she threatened before sitting down again in her seat, obviously fuming.

Of course that was enough to stop any word coming from Blaine, as he hated both to bother other people and, more importantly, to be admonished. But Sam was very aware of his discomfort and he shrugged his shoulders and made a comical face to him that didn't disappear until it made Blaine smile.

They ended up talking and laughing all the way through the rest of the movie, though they were careful not to be as loud as before and thankfully they weren't reprimanded again. And once the movie ended, they waited on their seats until that horrible woman and her abominable kids left the place, out of embarrassment.

"Oh, gosh, my sides are hurting from laughing so much" Blaine said with a chuckle as he stood up, and he didn't miss the way Sam's face illuminated with his comment –as Blaine very well knew he loved making other people laugh, though not everyone seemed to get his jokes.

"I should have warned you about that. It usually happens around me because I'm hilarious" Sam joked without a hint of arrogance in his voice.

"That you are" Blaine easily agreed, both because he knew that would make Sam happy and because he genuinely thought so, before his hand moved as a reflex to check his hair and he discovered there was no gel left in it. "Oh shit, I had forgotten about my hair!"

"Your hair is fine, B" Sam said after carefully checking him out, which made Blaine's heart race like crazy at the way Sam cared about him –and stared at him– and at the sweet way he had shortened his name –and which he had never done before.

"Yeah, right" Blaine sarcastically retorted, because he knew Sam was only trying to be nice and his hair had to look horrible after everything it had gone through.

"If you don't believe me use the hood and just walk behind me until we get outside, I will cover you from view" Sam suggested, even tenderly putting the hood over Blaine's head himself to make sure he wouldn't get embarrassed. "Though I think you look adorable like this, to be honest" he added with a wink and a pinch to Blaine's nose that left him there standing for a few seconds and had him having to hurry to catch up with Sam.

Once outside they both decided, with more than a bit of sadness, that it was time to finish their "date": even with Sam's sweatshirt, Blaine was still too wet to be safe for him to stay in those clothes and, since they were supposed to go only to the comic shop, Sam hadn't warned at home that he might not arrive for supper. And Blaine had spent all his money on the tickets and the snacks, so he couldn't pay for their supper anyway. Yet it made Blaine feel sad that the day was ending because he had had a wonderful time.

So it was quite a joy when Sam said he was going to walk him home, since it was still raining a bit and silly Blaine still didn't have an umbrella. And even if his reasoning was entirely believable, Blaine couldn't help to think that Sam wanted to prolong their evening as much as he did. And that thought made him incredibly happy for the first time in months.

They kept a steady conversation, full of jokes, laughing and whale-talking, until both of them could hardly breathe. And Blaine didn't even feel awkward with having his arm hooked up around Sam's for better umbrella-protection, as Sam had put it, because he was feeling so at ease that it only felt comfortable and normal. As if it was meant to be. With Sam everything was easy and natural and spontaneous, and that's what he liked the most about him. And that's saying something, considering he liked pretty much everything about Sam.

And much too soon for their taste, they were standing on Blaine's porch.

"This is my home" Blaine announced when he remembered Sam had never been there before –but he hoped he would get to be a lot in the future.

"Wow, you have a mansion!" Sam commented in awe, which only seemed to embarrass Blaine a bit. "You must have everything you want!"

"Yeah, pretty much" Blaine answered evasively with a shrug of his shoulders, promising himself he would tell Sam about his awful relationship with his parents someday because he knew he would understand. He was great like that. "Thanks for accompanying me home, Sam, you didn't have to"

"Oh, I had to, considering you are too fabulous to wear an umbrella" Sam replied in a joking tone that had them both chuckling.

"I'll give you your sweatshirt back on Monday without fail, washed and ironed"

"Don't worry, no rush"

"And thank you… for everything" Blaine said, more seriously this time.

"You don't have to thank me, I had an amazing time!" Sam replied, quickly diminishing the importance of it.

"So did I" Blaine admitted with a shy smile.

"Now that we're best friends we gotta do this again… or every week" Sam said in his usual no-filter way, until he realized he was maybe scaring the other boy with his impetus. "I mean… if you want to"

But Blaine, far from being scared, only smiled at the idea of having Sam to himself each and every weekend.

"I'd like that" he answered with a tender tone that immediately returned Sam's smile to his face.

"Not that we have to do the same every week, don't get me wrong, but we can… hang out, you know" Sam tried to explain himself, but he stopped trying so hard when he noticed Blaine laughing, which probably meant he was very on-board with the idea. "We have to learn Elvish after all"

"We so do" Blaine agreed with another chuckle, as he seemed incapable to stop laughing while Sam was at his side. And suddenly he felt the need to let him know how much that afternoon had meant to him. "Thanks, Sam, really. I really had an amazing time"

"I know" Sam answered, surprisingly serious of all a sudden. "I hadn't seen you smile that much lately, hadn't even heard you laugh for weeks, so I'm glad I could be of any help"

Blaine stood rooted to the place at the implications of Sam's words. Was he right? Had he been so absorbed in his troubles with Kurt and his depression that he had forgot how to smile? And had Sam been noticing for long? And wait… had he really not thought about Kurt even once in all afternoon even if he had been waiting for an answer to his text?

"Look…" Sam said, even picking up Blaine's hand in his to feel more connected and let him know how much he cared about him, again not caring about how it would look. "We haven't talked about… you-know-who all day, because I wanted you to forget about him for a while and… you know… be happy for once. But that doesn't mean I don't care about your feelings"

"I know" Blaine answered with only a thread of a voice thanks to the knot forming on his throat at Sam's caring and tenderness.

"I'm… here, ok? Whenever you need to talk" Sam continued with a gentle squeeze to the back of Blaine's neck, his fingers getting purposely caught in the loose curls hanging there. "I know you've been having a hard time with the break up, and you've been feeling lonely in the glee club and everything but… you have me now. I know I can't replace Kurt and what he meant for you, don't get me wrong, but… what I mean is that you are not alone anymore"

Blaine just nodded as an answer, afraid his voice would break if he so much as attempted to speak, but Sam seemed to notice the turmoil inside of him and put his arm around him to bring him to his side in a reassuring side-embrace.

"I know it's difficult, but we're going to make it, alright? Sometimes you just gotta… keep swimming" Sam added with a smile that warmed Blaine's chest to no extent. "And I might be just as stupid as Dory, but be sure I'll be swimming next to you, if you want me to"

"You're not stupid, Sam" Blaine retorted, suddenly finding his voice and sounding almost angry at the thought. "At all. You just don't know how smart you are"

This time it was Sam the one to be left speechless as he blushed adorably at Blaine's words, almost as if he was surprised that someone could think that about him.

"Then I think we're going to make a great team" Sam finally spoke with a last squeeze to Blaine's body before finally letting go of him. "I'll see you on Monday, ok?"

"Ok. Have a nice Sunday" Blaine wished him with a nostalgic smile, already missing him even if he was still standing right in front of him.

"You tell me that when you text me to say 'hi' tomorrow, you moron" Sam retorted with a chuckle, making it very clear that he was expecting them to keep in touch all the time now that they were best friends.

"I will" Blaine promised while trying not to laugh, both at Sam's stupidly happy expression before he turned to go and at the joy he could feel in his heart, and that he had missed so much for the last weeks.

Because that was the difference: he was not alone anymore. He had Sam now. And boy, didn't that sound amazingly good?

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So what did you think? This is kind of what I meant when I told you you could prompt me with any event mentioned in the complete "A long race" universe and I would try to develop it. Hope it was interesting, even if still pre-slash! Still open to suggestions ;) Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Summary:**_ _Sam might have appendicitis, but the doctors are not taking care of him as they should and Blaine is going to get VERY angry._

 ** _A/N:_** _This is based on something that was mentioned on chapter 11 of "A race full of obstaces". In case you don't remember:_

"And I remember quite clearly who was there with me all the time when I got my appendicitis. Hey, wasn't it you yelling at that doctor in the emergency room to take a better look at me, that I was in too much pain just to be a gastroenteritis?" Sam remembered with a fond chuckle. He thought it was funny now, but he remembered how scary Blaine had sounded that time as he yelled at the doctor to take care of his boyfriend.

"They wanted to send you home writhing in pain!" Blaine protested, failing to see the fun part of Sam's suffering.

 _So it's supposed to happen only a few months after Blaine and Sam got together, before Blaine finished his last year at NYADA. Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

CHAPTER 3: APPENDICITIS

Sam felt the pain before he even opened his eyes, a dull ache on his belly that was making him slightly nauseous. Great, he knew he shouldn't have had that third helping of Blaine's famous and delicious lasagna last night –but what could he do, it was so delicious… and Blaine always got that beautiful smile on his face when he saw Sam enjoying his cooking so much…–, and that slice of chocolate cake after that. Then he might not be facing a nice day of indigestion.

Bringing his hand to his abdomen in a stupid attempt of taking the pain away from it, he grunted before he could stop himself. And of course that was enough to get Blaine into full alert, as he had probably been already awake for some time, as usual.

"Hey, you okay?" Blaine asked when he immediately lifted his upper body so he could look at Sam, not even trying to hide his worry at the blond's unusual complaint.

"Yeah, I'm okay" Sam replied with a reassuring smile, hating when Blaine got that ugly frown on his forehead even if it warmed his heart to no extent to know how much the shorter boy loved him and worried about him. "I just need a kiss"

"Ok" Blaine complied with a smile as he covered the short distance separating their lips.

"Don't you look pretty in the morning?"

"And don't you look as if you were trying to distract me?"

"Gosh, you can't take a compliment" Sam joked, even if he knew there was no way Blaine was going to let it go.

"Sammy…" Blaine said in a warning tone.

"I just have a bit of a stomach ache" Sam finally had to admit.

"Aw, my poor thing, come here" Blaine said while rushing to nestle to Sam's side, resting his head on Sam's shoulder, while his hand moved to gently massage the blond's abdomen in a joking gesture until it stopped abruptly. "Sam, your abdomen is kind of rigid"

"I'm glad my abs are still rock-hard and you can appreciate them" Sam joked, resting a kiss on Blaine's forehead to distract him from his worrying, but he should have known better.

"Sam, I'm serious" Blaine replied, with no hint of joking in his voice, while he sat up on the bed for a better inspection and felt Sam's abdomen with both his hands. "Does it hurt if I press here?"

"Ouch!" Sam complained before he could stop himself, even if he tried to recover quickly so Blaine wouldn't notice. "Of course it hurts, you are digging your fingers into me!"

"Sam, I'm not kidding, you might have appendicitis" Blaine said, his face full of worry.

"What? Come on, B, I just have a bit of pain on my belly, let's not be dramatic" Sam immediately tried to defuse the situation, because Blaine was clearly exaggerating, wasn't he?

"Ok, let's not be dramatic, but let's be sensible: maybe we should visit the ER" Blaine tentatively suggested, knowing how much Sam hated doctors, but he really had a bad feeling in his guts and he wanted to make sure everything was alright.

"Yeah, right" Sam sarcastically answered, abruptly sitting up so Blaine would see how alright he was, though he couldn't help but wince at the sharp pain the abrupt movement caused in his abdomen.

"Ok, that's it, we're going to the hospital" Blaine sentenced, his voice a mixture of authority and fear as he stood up in a jump and practically ran to the wardrobe to get some clothes ready for the both of them.

"Blaine" Sam said in a reassuring tone, the pain becoming more bearable as he stood up to walk to Blaine and pick his hands in his to calm him down –because even if he looked composed and confident, Sam knew him way better than that and he knew he was quite upset. "I'm alright. It's just a bit of stomach ache, maybe gastroenteritis, but nothing else"

"I don't know…" Blaine hesitated with a sigh, and only Sam's warm hand cupping his cheek was able to stop his heart from racing so fast.

"Well, I do" Sam assured him before placing a grateful kiss on his cheek. "And besides, the auditions for the closing show of the year at NYADA are today, aren't they? You don't want to miss them"

"I don't care, you're more important"

"And you're a sweetheart. But it's a very big opportunity, a lot of Broadway talent scouts will be on that show, and you have to make it in it, you told me so yourself"

"I know, but…"

"But nothing" Sam interrupted him with a gentle finger to his lips. "You go and kill your audition, love, and I will take it easy today, I promise. I'll be alright"

"But…" Blaine to protest again, but this time Sam didn't even let him.

"Go!" Sam ordered, jokingly pushing him away with a laugh.

"Are you sure?" Blaine asked, still unsure.

"Positive" Sam reassured him.

"Ok" Blaine answered with a sigh, which told Sam how little convinced he really was.

Sam hadn't been lying when he told Blaine he intended to take it easy today, so he didn't even bother to get dressed yet because he would probably go to work later than usual, once his stomach settled down a bit. Wanting to erase the worried frown on Blaine's brow, he made coffee for him and waited for him to finish getting dressed in the kitchen.

"Do you want something to eat?" Sam offered when Blaine finally made it on the kitchen, all ready to go, and sat down in front of him, even if he knew Blaine like the back of his hand and could already guess the answer.

"No, I'm too nervous to eat" Blaine admitted, which elicited a fond smile on his boyfriend: Blaine really didn't know how talented he was, did he?

"You're going to blow it, as you always do" Sam reassured him, covering Blaine's hand with his own across the table. "And now come on, have your coffee and get going, we don't want you to be late"

"You're right" Blaine answered, standing up after taking a last sip of his coffee.

Sam watched him as he got ready to go, grabbing the thin jacket hanging from the rack, the keys and his shoulder bag, but when he was ready to go, instead of walking to the door, he stood rooted to the place and stared intently at Sam.

"What?" Sam asked in surprise, aware of the scrutiny his boyfriend was subjecting him to.

"I don't want to leave you alone like this, I have a bad feeling" Blaine whined, and he was so adorable that Sam could only chuckle at him.

"Gosh, I love you so much" Sam said as he grabbed Blaine around the waist and pulled of him until he made him sit on his lap. "But stop worrying, I'll be okay"

"You don't know that" Blaine answered, and he looked so serious as he played with the hair on Sam's forehead that the blond didn't have the heart to contradict him –and changed strategies instead.

"Ok, you might be right, so let's make a deal: if I start feeling worse I'll call you right away, ok?"

"You promise?"

"I promise"

"I'll have my phone with me all day" Blaine assured him, finally letting himself be convinced because he knew how stubborn his boyfriend could be.

"Then you don't have anything to worry about" Sam answered with a quick but grateful kiss to Blaine's pouting lips.

"I love you" Blaine reminded, tenderly tucking a stray lock of hair behind the blond's ear.

"I love you more" Sam predictably answered with a chuckle.

"No way" Blaine protested in their usual banter.

"Now go!" Sam said with a slap to Blaine's rear that made him laugh and jump from his lap. "You're going to be late at this rate"

"Ok, ok, I'm going" Blaine chuckled with a final kiss to Sam's cheek before finally walking to the door.

"And blow their frigging minds!" Sam practically shouted at his back.

"I will!" Blaine promised before disappearing behind the front door of their apartment.

As soon as Blaine was not there to see it, Sam's pretence that he was alright disappeared and was replaced by a grimace on his face as his hand move to cover his painful abdomen. Gosh, that stomach bug was going to be a bad one, judging by the pain it was causing. Not feeling able to get anything into his stomach, and remembering his promise to Blaine to take it easy, he decided to call his boss and tell him he was not going to make it that day. After all, he felt so bad he doubted he was going to be of much use when he could hardly stand or sit –laying down was the only position he could stand.

As he made his way back towards the bed, and after a particularly painful stab on his right side, he contemplated calling Blaine and ask him to go back so he could take him to the hospital, just to make sure it was nothing serious. But no, come on, he couldn't be so selfish: Blaine needed to be in that audition. It was his last year at NYADA, and Sam knew he was the best student in the whole school, there was no way he wasn't going to be in the final show. Especially considering how usually some Broadway producers and talent scouts came to it, looking for new faces to their own shows. And that could mean everything to Blaine's future in Broadway.

So yeah, there was no way Sam was going to deprive him of that. And if he had to endure the pain for a couple of hours… so be it.

* * *

Blaine looked at his watch and sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time: auditions should have started hours ago, if it hadn't been for some technical problem with the damned audio system that they were trying to fix. And he shouldn't be there: he should be at home, with Sam, convincing him that he needed to have his pain checked. He had texted him twice already, and on neither one of the occasions he had gotten any answer, which probably meant that Sam was better and had gone to work or he was just sleeping. But Blaine couldn't be sure, and that thought was killing him.

Even if the list of aspirants was ordered alphabetically –and he, with his last name being Anderson, was lucky enough to be one of the first to audition–, Blaine contemplated just leaving the place already and forgetting about the audition. Sam was much more important, after all. And he was so worried about him that he doubted he was going to do a good performance anyway. It was a pity, though, because he had worked so hard for that… He just hoped his grades wouldn't be affected by the fact that he would look so careless and unprofessional to miss what could almost be considered a mandatory audition.

He was already collecting his things, that had been left forgotten on the seat next to his in that cold auditorium, to leave when the dean of vocal performance and song interpretation of NYADA, Madame Tibideaux, appeared at the empty stage an announced that the problem had been solved and that they would be starting the auditions in just a few minutes.

Great, now he couldn't go, right? With a bit of luck, they would start immediately and things would go quickly until it was his turn. After that, he would leave, even if he would have loved to see the rest of the auditions: he could always check the board the day after that to see if he had been chosen –even if that would make sleeping quite difficult that night!

The first person was called on stage when Blaine's phone started ringing –though fortunately for everyone, it was on vibration–. Blaine was about to ignore it when he remembered it could very well be Sam asking for his help, so he hurried to take it off his bag. His heart did at somersault when he saw that it was, indeed, his boyfriend, so he stood up as silently as possible and ran his way out of the auditorium so they could talk without disturbing anyone.

"Hello?" Blaine answered, almost as a question, his heart in his throat as he waited for an answer.

"Is it a bad moment?" sweet Sam asked immediately, obviously worried about causing any trouble –which only helped to worry Blaine even more, because he knew Sam would have never called in such circumstances if it wasn't really important.

"No, of course not, tell me" Blaine lied, anxious to hear what Sam had to say.

"Ok, don't get scared or anything" Sam started, eliciting for Blaine to do exactly that, even more than before, "but I think that I took a turn for the worse"

That was saying something, Sam thought to himself. He had hung on as much as he could, to give Blaine time to do his audition, but the pain had began increasingly intensifying in the last couple of hours and now it was next to unbearable. And he had promised Blaine he would call him if he got any worse anyway, right?

"What's wrong?" he was taken out from his reverie by the very alarmed voice of his boyfriend –and yeah, wasn't he doing a great job at keeping him from getting too worked up?

"You were right" Sam was forced to admit. "I feel so much worse and the pain on my abdomen is much more intense"

"I think it could really be appendicitis, honey" Blaine answered, doing a very big effort to stay calm for his boyfriend's sake. "You should have it checked as soon as possible, just to be safe"

"Yeah, I think so" Sam surrendered with a sad sigh –he couldn't help it, he hated doctors! "Will you come with me?"

"Sure, honey. Are you at work?"

"No, I stayed home"

"Then why don't I call you a cab so you get going to the hospital and I'll meet you there as soon as I can?" Blaine suggested, taking a peck behind the auditorium's door to see that the auditions had finally started –maybe it wouldn't be too long before it was his turn?

"Can't you pick me up? I'd rather you went with me" Sam, surprisingly, implored, even if he normally would try to diminish the importance of any ailment so Blaine wouldn't worry.

Which made Blaine see how scared or worried Sam really was, and how awful he must be feeling, so he didn't hesitate to make a decision.

"Of course, Sammy, of course I'll take you to the ER immediately" Blaine assured him in a comforting voice as he forgot about his audition and started walking towards the front door of the school. "I'll take a cab and be there in just a few minutes"

"But you already auditioned, right?" Sam asked in a worried tone, and Blaine thought he couldn't possibly love him more for worrying about something so banal when he felt so terribly bad. "I can wait a bit more if you aren't finished"

"No, no, I already finished" Blaine lied, knowing it was the quickest and more efficient way to convince Sam not to worry. "I'm on my way"

"But..." Sam tried to protest, probably sensing he was not being honest.

"But nothing" Blaine immediately stopped him, hailing a cab that was fortunately passing by the entrance. "Nothing is more important than you, love"

"Thank you, babe. I love you"

"I love you too. I'll be there in like ten minutes, just hang on"

"Ok" Sam pitifully answered before the line went dead.

* * *

Blaine reminded himself to breathe after telling the driver their address so he could pick Sam up and take him to the hospital. He tried to convince himself that, even if he was right and it was a case of appendicitis, it didn't have to be that serious, that doctors made that kind of surgery hundreds of time every week and they were more than used to it. Nothing had to happen. But he couldn't help it: he couldn't stand the thought of Sam not feeling well.

Fortunately the taxi driver seemed to notice his state and made record time to his apartment, and Blaine was surprised to see Sam waiting at the door of the building, doubled over in pain and looking worse for the wear. His heart breaking at the obvious discomfort of his boyfriend, Blaine asked the driver to wait for them and jumped from the car to help Sam.

"Sam!" he exclaimed as he ran to him. "Why didn't you wait for me upstairs?"

"Because I couldn't possibly stay still any longer" Sam replied in just a thread of a voice.

"You don't look too good" Blaine lamented with a gentle caress to Sam's cheek.

"I don't feel too good" Sam admitted, which was an understatement, considering he looked horrible, but he never complained, did he? "I packed some things in case I need to stay at the hospital for a couple of days"

"You shouldn't have been doing that yourself" Blaine replied as he looked at the bag at Sam's feet, his voice full of guilt that he hadn't been there for his boyfriend when he so obviously needed him even if it had been that same boyfriend himself the one to force him to go. "I should have been here for you"

"Don't be silly, I didn't give you any option" Sam absolved him immediately, knowing how big Blaine's heart was –and how much he tended to blame himself for any reason. "And frankly, I didn't think I was going to get so bad"

"Well, let's not waste any more time" Blaine urged him as he picked the bag with one hand and put the other around Sam's waist to help him hold his weight.

Sam tried to hide how much he was really hurting as they walked the few steps towards the car, knowing Blaine was feeling guilty enough as it was, but the truth was he was feeling worse with every movement and in the end he couldn't help but to groan when he had to bend to get into the car.

"Come on, love" Blaine tenderly whispered as he helped him into the car.

And Sam wished he could tell him not to worry, that he would be alright, that he shouldn't feel guilty, that he loved him for taking such good care of him… but he was making such an effort not to make any other sign of discomfort that he didn't want to risk separating his lips.

But of course Blaine didn't need any words to notice his pain and his discomfort.

"You're shivering" Blaine lamented once he was sitting at his side, putting his arm around Sam's upper body to bring him to his chest for comfort and support.

"I'm cold" Sam confessed as he snuggled more closely to Blaine's warm and reassuring body.

Blaine started rubbing on Sam's arm to try and bring some warmth into him, and his lips moved to the blond's forehead so he could check on his temperature.

"I think you're running a fever" Blaine announced with a sigh, more and more worried by the minute even if he was trying to hide it on Sam's benefit.

"Just hold me and I'll be okay" Sam pleaded, snuggling more closely to Blaine's chest.

And nothing could have scared Blaine more than Sam not even trying to hide how bad he was feeling, as he usually did when he was feeling poorly, and showing him how much he was in need of Blaine's protection.

"Sure, honey" Blaine promised as he reinforced the embrace he was keeping on him and rested his head on top of Sam's.

The trip felt like it would never end, and Blaine had to remind himself to breathe when he noticed a cold sweat breaking on Sam's skin, probably because of the fever or because how much the movement was making his pain grow and he hard he was trying to avoid protesting so as not worry Blaine even more.

Blaine paid the driver as quick as he could once they reached the entrance of the hospital and then ran to the other side of the car so he could help his boyfriend out.

"I think I'm going to be sick" Sam barely had the time to warn him before he doubled over and threw out just next to the car he had just vacated while Blaine comfortingly rubbed his back.

"Come on, honey" Blaine encouraged him to take the few steps separating them from the door once he finished retching, his arms firmly holding the taller boy. "Let's get you some help"

Blaine lead his boyfriend to the waiting room and made him sit, knowing how standing up was making the pain even worse, and placed the nearest bin next to his feet in case he needed to vomit again. He again checked his temperature, with a hand to Sam's clammy forehead, and shook his head in frustration before reassuringly removing some locks that were falling in the blond's face.

"I'm going to speak to the admission lady, I'll be back in a second" Blaine announced, lovingly caressing Sam's cheek when he noticed the latter had his eyes closed in an attempt of keeping the pain at bay.

"Don't be long" Sam pleaded, and Blaine's heart broke at how scared Sam looked at being alone in his vulnerable state –and Blaine didn't remember having ever seen Sam scared, and that thought terrified him to the core.

"I'll be quick" Blaine promised with a kiss to the top of his head, not wanting to deny him of his presence if it could be of any reassurance to his loved one.

Blaine practically ran the small distance to the admittance window and gulped down the knot he could feel forming in his throat at his beloved's suffering. He just hoped they would be able to do something for him soon, because he couldn't stand seeing him like that.

"Hello" he said in a kind but urgent tone to get the attention of the woman at the window.

"What's your ailment?" she answered kind of rudely, not even bothering to lift her eyes from some papers to look back at Blaine, even if the latter decided to ignore it for the time being.

"It's not for me, it's my boyfriend. He has severe pain in his abdomen and it's quite rigid. He vomited and he's also running a fever, I'm afraid it might appendicitis or…"

"A doctor will have to diagnose that" the woman brusquely cut him off, and Blaine closed his mouth in surprise for a second.

Of course it was Sam's safety which was at stake, so he found his voice again in no time.

"Of course" he politely agreed, not wanting to lose any precious time in arguing with that awful woman. "So can we have him checked, please? He's in a lot of pain"

"Just as everyone else" she answered in a tone that belied how little she cared about it, as she handed Blaine some paper and an old pen. "Fill this and then wait in the waiting room until you're called"

"Thank you" Blaine sarcastically answered as he picked up the paper and made his way back to the waiting room.

His heart broke even more at the state he found his boyfriend, still doubled over in pain in his seat, resting the side of his body against the wall behind it with his face and neck covered in sweat, shaking quite perceptibly –whether it was from the fever or the pain, Blaine didn't honestly know–. Knowing he couldn't do much for him for the time being, Blaine rushed to give him the only thing he could: his company, which he knew would at least comfort Sam a bit.

"I'm here now, honey" Blaine said with a kiss to Sam's forehead before he sat at his side. "They will call us soon"

"Can you hold me?" Sam begged, so pitifully than it was all Blaine could do not to start crying right there and then.

"Sure, honey, let me fill this form first so they can call you as quick as possible and then I'm all yours, ok?"

"Ok" Sam nodded in understanding and closed his eyes again to wait until his boyfriend's comforting arms could hold him and make him feel better.

Blaine made a record time in filling the damned paper –and gosh, he was grateful he knew absolutely everything about his boyfriend to fill it so he didn't have to bother him with questions on top of everything–, gave it to the horrible woman at the admittance window and came back to him before he was even aware he had left.

"I'm all yours now, sweetie" Blaine tenderly said, and his butt hadn't even touched his seat yet that Sam had practically jumped on his arms even if his movements were slowed down by the pain.

And they stayed in that same position, with Sam snuggled on Blaine's chest as the latter never stopped caressing his messy hair in comforting patterns, for almost an hour in which no one came to get them, even if Blaine had gotten up to ask a couple of times. Blaine had been talking practically non-stop the entire time to keep Sam entertained and hopefully distract him a bit from the pain to the point his throat felt dry and itchy, but still didn't stop, knowing Sam usually found his soft voice familiar and comforting, even if he was hardly participating in the conversation.

"Damn it, Blaine, I can't stand it anymore" Sam complained all of a sudden before reaching for the garbage can Blaine had set at his feet and emptied the last remains of his stomach.

And Blaine doubted he had ever felt angrier than he did at the moment, having to see his boyfriend suffer unnecessarily like that, so he gently patted Sam's back until he stopped retching and then jumped from his seat and ran to the window again.

"Excuse me, we've been here for over an hour and we haven't even been called yet" he loudly protested, having had enough of being polite and gentle, when he had probably been ignored for that same reason.

"Sir, I told you that you…" the woman tried to patronize him again, but this time Blaine wasn't going to fall for it.

"My boyfriend is writhing in pain, you know?" Blaine interrupted her, not willing to back down this time. "I don't want to be a bother, but he is having a really bad time and we've been waiting long enough"

"Listen to me, young man…" the woman tried to say, but she hadn't tasted Blaine's wrath yet.

"Don't _young man_ me!" he protested, livid with anger as he pointed a finger at her face. "And you listen to me now, you are going to get us to a doctor right now or I will make sure everyone knows how you people treat your patients in this damned hospital!"

"Ok, sir, there's no need to make a scene" she answered, trying to placate him now that she had seen he was not the submissive, well-mannered young man she had believed him to be. "I'll see what I can do"

"That's all I'm asking" Blaine answered, breathing deeply to try and calm himself as he watched that hideous woman disappearing behind a door, which he hoped meant she was really trying to get someone to see them.

Blaine turned to the sitting area again and instinctively put his arms around his boyfriend to hold him against him again as he sat at his side.

"Where did you go?" Sam asked, letting himself be completely engulfed in Blaine's arms.

"I was just asking them how long until the doctor sees you" Blaine answered, half lying because Sam didn't need to know about his row with the admittance lady, because the last thing he needed was to worry about anything else.

"And why did they say?"

"Any minute now" Blaine answered with a kiss to Sam's forehead that he hoped would placate him.

And it was only a couple of minutes later when the name _Sam Evans_ sounded on the PA system of the place and Blaine carefully helped his boyfriend to his feet and held half his weight with an arm around his waist as they made their way through the door in question.

There, waiting for them behind a table, was a middle-age man who didn't look too friendly –the admittance lady had probably warned him about him after all–, but Blaine hoped he would be a professional and wouldn't let that information affect the way he was going to treat his patience. Otherwise Blaine wouldn't hesitate to get angry again if he had to, he was more than willing to do it even if he hated it.

"Good morning" the doctor said with false politeness. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I woke up with a dull pain on my abdomen that has been increasing for the past few hours" Sam explained, muttering while greeting his teeth in an attempt of keeping the pain at bay.

"He's in a lot of pain now and he's running a fever" Blaine added, not wanting for his boyfriend to play down the importance of it, as he usually did. "Oh, and his abdomen is very rigid and he's vomited twice"

"That sounds like a bad case of gastroenteritis" the doctor sentenced without even taking a closer look at his patience, while he got his prescription pat. "There is quite an epidemic of it this year, so you will have to…"

"No" Blaine contradicted him with a humorless laugh. "No way"

"No what?" the doctor asked in surprise.

"You're not going to dismiss him without even looking at him" Blaine angrily reproached him, even if he was aware of how Sam was looking at him in surprise –as normally it was very difficult to rile him up.

"I don't need to, I tell you it's gastroenteritis" the doctor insisted.

"And I tell you it's not" Blaine answered, not willing to back down in something so important, even ignoring Sam's hand on his arm that was silently asking him to calm down. "Can't you see him? He can't even straighten up because of how much he is hurting!"

"That's a symptom of gastroenteritis, you know? Not everybody has the same tolerance to pain"

"If you're implying he is just being a whiner just so you won't have to do your job so help me. I'm afraid he might have appendicitis, and I need you to check him for that"

"I'm not going to waste some valuable time and resources on checking a patient who has already being diagnosed just because you say so"

"You're going to check him, and you're going to do it now unless you really want to see me angry" Blaine spat, though to Sam he looked already quite furious –something which he didn't get to see often and felt so strange.

"Is that a threat?" the doctor replied, disbelieving, obviously not used to people being contrary to him.

"If you need it to be…" Blaine answered, so angry he could feel himself shaking even if he was trying not to show it in his voice.

"Calm down, Blaine" Sam tried, once again, to calm his boyfriend down through a gentle hand on his forearm, but Blaine was too beside himself by then.

"No, I won't calm down, Sam" Blaine retorted, even though he softened his tone considerably to speak to his boyfriend as it was not him he was angry at. "I've seen you go to work with a 104º fever or not realize you had a broken finger until it turned completely purple, so if you say it hurts, I know it really does, and I'm not going to let them discharge you as if you didn't matter when I positively know you're sicker than they say"

"Oh, so you're a doctor now?" the doctor interrupted, clearly not willing to let a kid question him like that.

"No, I'm not, but I know him much better than you do and I'm telling you he might have appendicitis and you're going to check him just in case"

"I already made my diagnose, mister"

"And you would take the risk of sending someone with an appendicitis home just because of your stupid pride?" Blaine asked, hardly able to believe what he was hearing.

"Don't insult me!" the doctor protested, even rising from his chair to look more threatening.

"Then do your fucking job!" Blaine yelled back, also standing up, because if that man thought he was going to scare him…

"B, come on…" Sam implored from his seat, pulling on Blaine's arm, more than a little upset at having to see his normally sweet and even-tempered boyfriend like that, even if he knew it was only for him.

"Look, mister…" the doctor said, realizing he didn't know the boy's name, trying to keep the situation from escalating even more.

"Anderson" Blaine answered, suddenly an idea appearing in his mind at the mention of his last name. "Like in Anderson laboratories. Maybe you've heard about my father?"

"Your father is Donald Anderson? From Anderson laboratories?" the doctor asked, unbelieving.

"Yeah, that's him, the owner of one of the most important companies in the pharmaceutical industry, isn't it?" Blaine continued, being glad of being the son of the great Donald Anderson for probably the first time in his life, even if he knew he was shooting a line since he hadn't talked to him in years. "Well, I could call him right away and inform him about how you've been treating his son's partner. I mean, he is a personal friend of the hospital director, I'm sure he would love to have a nice conversation with him about how some of his employees treat their patients"

"There will be no need for that, mister Anderson, I'm sure we can reach an agreement" the doctor answered, his tone completely different than a moment before.

"Oh, can we?" Blaine sarcastically replied.

"We can make a CT scan, just to make sure there aren't any complications. We don't want to risk it, do we?"

"No, we surely don't"

"Just wait a second here, I'll make sure they call you as soon as possible" the doctor suggested, hurrying his way out of the room to make sure that young man wouldn't get angry again.

Blaine sighed at the doctor's departure, half in relief, half in exhaustion, before he turned to sit again and grabbed Sam's hand in his.

"How are you, honey?" Blaine asked, his voice back to that sweet and familiar tone Sam loved so much.

"I'm holding on, don't worry" he answered, only wanting to reassure Blaine so he wouldn't lose his mind again. "Is your father really a friend of the hospital director?"

"I've got no idea, I don't know if he even knows him" Blaine confessed in a whisper. "Isn't it pathetic that we had to come to that point?"

Sam only had time to caress Blaine's cheek in reassurance and gratitude for a moment before the doctor was back with an orderly pushing a wheelchair.

"If you would be so kind as to sit here, Mr. Evans, we'll take you to the scan room immediately" the doctor said while pointing at the chair, all kindness and fake warmth now, that only made Blaine snort even if he refrained from saying anything.

Instead he moved to help Sam stand, knowing how his boyfriend could hardly move on his own, and then half carried him to the chair. He was going to follow them, though, when the orderly stopped him.

"You will have to wait on the waiting room, sir"

Blaine sighed, knowing no protests were going to help him this time as it was the normal procedure not to let anyone in while tests were taken, and bent down to kiss Sam's lips.

"I will be waiting just outside, honey" Blaine said with a reassuring caress to Sam's cheek because, even if the blond hadn't said anything, he knew him better than he knew himself and knew that Sam would be getting more nervous if Blaine wasn't at his side.

"I'll be okay" Sam promised, not wanting for his boyfriend to worry more than it was strictly necessary –he was going to do it enough as it was. "Call Tina or someone, I don't want you fretting alone out there"

"I will, don't worry" Blaine answered with a last kiss to Sam's lips and a squeeze to his hand before the orderly effectively separated them in the end, even if he couldn't stop Blaine from reminding Sam of the most important thing. "I love you"

"I love you too" Sam answered with a wink of his eyes before he disappeared behind the door.

Blaine felt empty for a moment, lost, as if he didn't know where to go or even what he wanted. He barely understood the doctor when he pointed at the waiting room in fake kindness, and he let his feet take control of the situation until he was effectively there. He let himself fall on one of the seats, suddenly exhausted, and it took him more than five minutes to remember his promise to Sam, so he took the phone out of his pocket and dialed the number of his favorite girl in the world, knowing she would leave whatever she might be doing behind as soon as he told her he needed her. She was reliable and sweet like that.

"Hello?" Tina asked after only a couple of rings, as she usually did when it came to Blaine.

"Hey, Tey Tey" Blaine simply said, but it was enough for the astute girl to notice his tone didn't sound happy at all.

"What's wrong, Blaineydays?" she asked in a hurry, as there was nothing she hated more than to see his beloved friend feeling any less than perfect.

"I'm at the hospital, Sam is not feeling that good" he answered with a sad sigh that immediately got the girl on alert.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He woke up to some pain in his abdomen, but he got so much worse after some hours so I took him to the ER. They're making some tests now, but I'm afraid it could be appendicitis"

"Oh, Blaineybear…" she lamented, quickly making a decision because she knew where she needed to be right then. "Mike doesn't have to work today, so we'll be there as quick as we can"

"No, Tina, there's no need to…" Blaine tried to protest, hating to cause any inconvenience when the only thing he had wanted was to talk to someone, but of course his friend didn't even want to hear about it.

"Blaine, we're coming, so save it" she sternly said before she softened her voice again. "We'll be there in no time, just hang on and give all our love to Sam"

"Ok, Tina, thank you so much" Blaine answered, not being able to hide how grateful he was that he was not going to have to wait alone in a situation like that. "I love you, Tey Tey"

"I love you too, Blainey" she answered before hanging up in a hurry, probably already yelling at Mike to get ready as she started doing a million things at a time.

* * *

Blaine was sure it was taking longer than usual. Ok, he didn't have much experience with CT scans, but he had been sitting on his own on the waiting room for more than half an hour and he still had to get any news from Sam. And yeah, he was happy they were giving him a full check-out this time –he was close enough to make a formal complaint as it was for the way they had treated them–, but all the waiting was only making him worry more.

He had been waiting to be called through the PA system, or even for Sam to be back to the waiting room himself, but what he surely was not expecting was for that horrible doctor to appear through the door with the guiltiest expression on his face and asking him to follow him.

Blaine jumped from his chair, his heart in his throat, and tried to remain calm as he followed the doctor, but the grave expression on the man's face was not making it any easier.

"Is there anything wrong?" Blaine was forced to ask when he noticed the doctor didn't know how to start.

"I'm afraid you were right, Mr. Anderson" the doctor pronounced the expected, yet scary, words. "It is appendicitis"

"So you're going to operate on him?" Blaine asked, trying to keep his composure even when the only thing he wanted was to cry.

"Yeah, right away. An orderly will take you to the waiting room in the surgery area, the surgeon will come to inform you as soon as she can" the doctor said in a rush, already turning around to leave, but Blaine forgot about his manners for once and grabbed his arm before he completely disappeared.

"But wait! Can I see him before you take him to the operating room?"

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Anderson" the doctor said in an understanding voice –if it was out of sympathy for him or he was just trying to make a good impression because of whose son Blaine was, he honestly didn't know. "He's already there and they're already getting him ready, his appendix was close to burst with all the unfortunate waiting and we couldn't spare a second longer"

"Oh" Blaine lamented, feeling even worse than before knowing he couldn't even reassure Sam before his operation –or to see him one last time. "But is he going to be alright?"

"Yes, of course, we make hundreds of operations like that every week, Mr. Anderson" the doctor explained, with a gentle pat to Blaine's shoulder. "Everything's going to be alright, as long as I get going"

"Ok" Blaine relented, knowing he was keeping the doctor there instead of where he needed to be, and that was next to Sam.

"Oh, and he told me to tell you not to worry too much" the doctor said, with a little smile as he walked away. "And that he loves you very much"

Blaine never had the chance to answer before the doctor was gone, and he barely understood the words the orderly was telling him as he guided him through the corridors to another waiting room, smaller and much calmer than the other one.

He hadn't been sitting then for more than ten minutes when the door of the corridor opened abruptly and a very noisy Tina ran to him, pulled at his arms to make him stand and enveloped him in a crushing embrace that Blaine let himself enjoy for a few seconds.

"Blainey?" Tina said, kind of questioningly, wanting to know how her best friend was.

"Oh, Tina" he simply said as he clung more strongly to her, glad of her company and her constant support.

"We came as soon as we could, but those damned people at the front wouldn't tell us where you two where until now" she explained in a rush, obviously taking care of Blaine in her unique way, which was talking a mile a minute so he wouldn't have the space to think too much –of which he was glad for once. "Is Sam ok?"

"He's under surgery right now" Blaine explained, finally letting go of the petite girl to shake hands with Mike.

"But is it serious? Is he going to be okay?" Mike asked, obviously noticing –and worrying– about how upset Blaine looked.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just an appendicitis, the doctors said it's such an everyday occurrence" Blaine answered, tying to diminish the importance of it, but he was obviously not being very successful, judging by the way Tina kept looking at him.

"You ok?"

Blaine shrugged his shoulders as an answer.

"It's just… they didn't let me see him before the operation" he explained with a sad sigh.

"He's going to be ok, Blainebear" Tina answered with a gentle pat to Blaine's arm.

"I know" Blaine replied with a smile that wasn't as wide as usual, but it was enough to reassure his friends that he was going to be alright. "I'm okay, Tey-Tey. I'm just being an idiot, that's all"

"You're not, it's just normal to be worried about your partner, you know?" Mike reassured him, having been a witness for years about what those two meant to each other –even if they had been officially a couple for only a few months.

"Thank you, guys. You don't know how grateful I am to have you here"

"Don't be ridiculous, Blainey" Tina said as she took his hand and pulled him to sit down again. "We'll stay here as long as you need us"

* * *

Blaine couldn't have been more grateful of their presence because the waiting was becoming unbearable, even when he kept trying to convince himself it hadn't been that long. In fact, he had no idea of how long he had been waiting, because he hadn't looked at his watch when they took Sam away and he had completely lost track of time. But Tina's hand had been grabbing his all along, so he guessed it couldn't have been that long. Or maybe Tina was just that amazing, he wasn't really sure.

He was up from his chair, though, before the surgeon made it all the way in the waiting room, having jumped as soon as he saw him through the small window on the door.

"Relatives of Samuel Evans?" the doctor asked.

"I'm his partner" Blaine immediately identified himself, flanked as he was by his two friends.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Anderson" the doctor said as she offered her hand to shake, and it didn't surprise Blaine that much that she would know his name, as the other doctor had probably warned her in advance of his mistake and he was trying to be extra nice.

"How is he?" Blaine asked, only caring about his boyfriend's welfare.

"The operation was a complete success. You were right, and his appendix was close to bursting" she explained, wanting to look honest and sympathetic –and even to suck up to him a bit, just in case–. "Fortunately we caught it just on time and everything went as good as possible"

"So he will be alright?" Blaine asked as he released his breath –which he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Yes, he's going to make a complete recovery in no time"

Blaine smiled for the first time in what felt like hours, as Mike fondly patted his shoulder and Tina squeezed his hand more strongly, probably as relieved as he was himself.

"Can I see him?" Blaine asked, desperate to get a glimpse of his beloved boyfriend so he could really believe he was alright.

"He's still in the recovery room, so only one of you can get in, I'm afraid"

Blaine looked apologetically at his friends, feeling bad that they had come to be with him and he was now leaving them in the lurch. But of course Tina and Mike understood perfectly, and agreed to leave uner the promise that Blaine would call them later on to tell them how Sam was doing –or if he needed them for anything.

Blaine followed the doctor along the corridor, as she explained about how Sam was still waking up and would be more than a little "confused" for a while. Blaine laughed internally as he tried to imagine how high Sam would be –he was funny enough when he was drunk–, but he soon forgot about that as they entered the room and he could finally see Sam lying peacefully there.

Blaine finally felt a sense of peace as he was reunited with the person he loved the most in the world, because he looked so peaceful and content –and, above all, painless at last–. If it wasn't for the hospital gown he was wearing, it would look as if he was simply sleeping at home, in one of those rare occasions in which he would sleep late, and Blaine yearned to lie down with him and cuddle to his chest, just so he could hear his heart and be reassured by the warmth of his strong body. But he knew that was out of question, so he contented himself with sitting down on a chair at his side, as close to the bed as he could physically manage, and prepared to wait –again.

* * *

Blaine took the advantage of the waiting to call Sam's parents, so they would know what was going on, and Cooper, so he could talk to him and be reassured by his big brother's always caring voice. And only a while after that, fortunately, Blaine noticed how Sam's eyes were starting to flutter and his heart skipped a beat at the prospect at hearing his beloved's voice again.

He reinforced the link of their hands, which hadn't broken in all the while he had been sitting there, and patiently waited for Sam to wake up on his own. But when those sweet green eyes he loved so much opened for a second, he couldn't help it any longer and finally had to speak.

"Hey" Blaine tenderly said as he drove Sam's hand to his lips so he could kiss it. "Can you hear me?"

"Uh huh" Sam mumbled, fighting against the tremendous force trying to keep his eyelids close.

"How are you feeling?" Blaine asked, a little more calmly now that he could see Sam trying to wake up.

"I'm ok" Sam answered, his voice sounding tremendously slurred thanks to sleep and the after effects of the anesthesia.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Blaine asked, lovingly caressing the hair on Sam's forehead.

"What hurts?" Sam asked in confusion, furrowing his brown in an attempt of understanding what Blaine was saying –and gosh, he sounded so high that Blaine knew he was up to some funny moments.

"I'm guessing that's a no" he chuckled before fondly kissing Sam's forehead, which finally made the blond open his eyes and look intently at him.

"Oh, man" Sam exclaimed after a full minute of just contemplating the other boy.

"What?"

"You are the most beautiful person I've ever seen"

"What?" Blaine asked again, openly laughing at his boyfriend's high craziness.

"So pretty…" Sam exclaimed, his eyes never moving from Blaine's, contemplating him as if he was a work of art. "Who are you?"

"I'm Blaine" Blaine answered amusedly.

"Do I know you?" Sam asked, looking quizzically at him.

"Yeah, I bit" Blaine joked, but Sam looked so confused that he rushed to clarify. "I'm your boyfriend"

"You're my boyfriend?" Sam repeated, looking quite shocked and apparently immune to Blaine's wholehearted laughing. "No way!"

"Yeah, we live together" Blaine explained while trying not to laugh, squeezing Sam's hand so the latter would believe him more easily –and for a moment he debated with himself if he should record him, so funny he was looking at the moment, but finally decided against it.

"There's no way I'm going to believe you are my boyfriend!" Sam almost screamed as he looked at their linked hands with fascination.

"Well, believe it"

"But you're so beautiful" Sam objected, looking genuinely unbelieving that something so good could happen to him.

"Oh gosh, you're making me blush" Blaine responded, even if his cheeks were already more than a little red at the appraisal.

"Awww, you're adorable too" Sam continued, playing with Blaine's hand, still in his, almost as if he wanted to know how it felt.

"Stop it, Sammy" Blaine protested with a laugh, playfully slapping Sam's arm, even if the gesture only seemed to amplify Sam's heart-eyes towards him.

"Do you usually call me Sammy?"

"Sometimes, yeah"

"Do you love me?"

"Quite a bit, yes" Blaine admitted with a chuckle, not believing he was having such an absurd conversation with whom was the love of his love –because damn it, was Sam really asking him if he loved him? How high was him?

"Damn it, I hit the jackpot!" Sam exclaimed, lifting his free fist in the air for a better impression. "I think I love you too"

"Well, I really hope so" Blaine answered, trying hard not to keep laughing at his boyfriend, even if he was looking so incredibly adorable at the moment –especially when he couldn't contain the biggest yawn he had ever given. "You should probably get some more sleep"

"I'm sleepy but I don't want to sleep" Sam answered in a childish, whiny tone.

"And why's that?"

"Because I don't want you to go"

"I'm not going anywhere, Sammy" Blaine promised him with a sweet kiss to his cheek. "Nothing could make me move away from you. I'll be right here next time you wake up"

"Because you love me" Sam continued, trying to make sense of that sweet boy's words.

"That's exactly why" Blaine answered with a chuckle.

"Wow, I can't believe how lucky I am!" Sam still said, even if his eyes were already closing in spite of himself.

"Sleep now, Sammy" Blaine encouraged him to let go, his free hand moving to the hair on the top of Sam's head to lovingly caress it, hoping to make him sleepier.

"Don't go" Sam pleaded, squeezing the hand he still had in his.

"I won't" Blaine assured him with a last kiss to his cheek.

"You promise?"

"I promise"

"Ok. Love you"

Blaine felt tears coming from his eyes at the undying love Sam professed for him, even in his confused state. And he loved him back so much… if he hadn't made it… But no, he didn't want to think about that, he decided as he erased a stray tear in his cheek: Sam would be okay and they would spend the rest of their lives together.

"Love you too" he answered with a last kiss to Sam's forehead, even if he knew his boyfriend was too asleep already to hear it.

* * *

Of course, after a while, a couple of orderlies appeared to take Sam to a normal room, now that he seemed stable and they were sure everything had gone according to the plan. Blaine followed them in silence, feeling too tired to try and make small and insignificant talk while Sam couldn't hear him –he would feign he was okay once he woke up, so he wouldn't have to worry about him on top of everything.

* * *

The next time Sam woke up he was already in a normal room, or so it seemed, and the night sky he could see from the window was so dark he guessed it was way past midnight. His abdomen hurt, probably from the wound he undoubtedly had after the surgery, but it was nothing compared to the pain of that morning, he noticed with relief. He was glad Blaine had immediately guessed what was wrong with him, so he hadn't been able to convince himself it would go away and known it was better to have it checked once the pain became unbearable. Sweet old Blaine… he knew him better than he knew himself, didn't he?

Sam only needed to open his eyes for his lips to break into the fondest smile ever at contemplating his beautiful boyfriend asleep on the chair next to the bed, impossibly close, keeping quite a tight grip on Sam's hand. Of course Blaine wouldn't let him alone, even if he was so tired so as to fall asleep on a chair. And considering how much Blaine worried about him at the smallest cold… Sam could guess what a hard day he had gone through.

"Babe?" Sam said in a whisper, marveling at how beautiful he always looked in his sleep. "B?"

"Hey" Blaine answered as soon as he awoke, his face getting even prettier with how his smile illuminated at seeing Sam awake again. "You're awake"

"Yeah" Sam answered, reciprocating Blaine's smile in a tender way.

"I've missed those pretty eyes so much…" Blaine continued, slightly rising from his chair for a moment so he could kiss Sam's lips in a quick but loving peck. "How are you feeling, love?"

"I've had better days, to be honest" Sam admitted, even if he knew it was not the answer Blaine was waiting for, because he knew his boyfriend always expected him to be honest.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Blaine asked, his brow furrowed while he lovingly caressed the top of Sam's head.

"A little"

"Let me get…"

"Relax, B, I'm sure it's normal it hurts a bit after having surgery" Sam interrupted him before he could say he was going to get someone, also grabbing his arm to keep him in place because he hated to see him in such a frenzy. "By the way, did everything go well?"

"Yeah, they caught it just in time, but in the end everything went perfectly well" Blaine explained with a smile, which only got wider when Sam stretched his arm long enough to caress his cheek –or to keep him still while he checked him over to see how he was faring, Blaine didn't honestly know.

"Have you been on your own all this time?" Sam asked, not even trying to hide his worry.

"No, Tina and Mike were here while you were under surgery" Blaine answered, knowing Sam would feel much better if he knew Blaine had kept his promise to call someone. "And I spoke almost an hour with Cooper on the phone while I waited for you to wake up"

"I'm glad you weren't alone then" Sam replied, his serene expression breaking into a smirk right after that, "so at least there was someone to hold you if you got angry again"

Blaine closed his mouth and forgot what he was about to say at the reminder of how he had acted a few hours ago, clearly blushing in embarrassment at the unusual loss of his temper.

"Aw, you don't have to be embarrassed, babe!" Sam continued with a laugh, and he would have felt guilty about making Blaine feel bad if his boyfriend's blush wasn't so darn adorable. "It's just that… I had never seen you like that, you know? You are always so measured and sweet… You were kind of scary, you know?"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stand seeing you like that and them not caring" Blaine explained, trying to defend himself even if he knew he didn't need to.

"You don't have to apologize" Sam insisted with a squeeze to their joined hands. "It would have turned me on quite a bit if I hadn't felt close to dying"

"You pervert"

"No, seriously. I know how much you hate having to fight. Thank you for caring so much"

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine replied, almost angry at the thought of leaving Sam to his fate just so he wouldn't make a scene with those damned doctors. "Sammy, you're my life! I would fight for you to the last consequences. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do" Sam answered with the most loving smile as he cupped the back of Blaine's neck so he could force him to bend down and he could rest a grateful and comforting kiss on his lips. "But thanks for reminding me"

"Always" Blaine promised, reciprocating Sam's smile while gently caressing the hair on the top of his head.

They fell on a companionable silence for a few minutes after Blaine sat down again, and during that time Blaine's hand never stopped his gentle treatment on Sam's hair. It had a calming effect on both of them, and Sam let himself enjoy it for a while, even closing his eyes for more comfort, until at last his love for Blaine won and he knew he needed to take care of him to.

"You look tired" he said with a caress to Blaine's cheek, once he opened his eyes and notice the fatigue in his boyfriend's face. "Why don't you…?"

"No" Blaine refused confidently, which amused and frustrated Sam in equal parts –and damned it, his boyfriend could be stubborn!

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" he protested.

"You were going to tell me to go home and I'm not going to"

"Geez, you really know me well"

"I do" Blaine answered with a laugh, although it was easy for Sam to see it wasn't as carefree as it usually was.

"You ok?" he immediately asked –and yeah, he knew Blaine better than he knew himself too, alright?

"Yeah, I… I guess I'm just… a bit shaken" Blaine confessed while shrugging his shoulders, knowing he didn't need to feign with his boyfriend, as he always understood. "You had to undergo surgery, after all, and… it was kind of scary"

Sam smiled fondly at him, his heart almost aching, not to the first time, at how incredibly grateful of being loved by such a wonderful creature he was.

"But I'm ok now"

"I know, that's why I'm ok now too" Blaine rushed to reassure him, not wanting for him to worry about him, as he usually did.

"Lie down here with me at least" Sam offered, sensing Blaine somehow needed the familiar reassurance of their embrace –and so did he.

"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you"

"Not having you near hurts me so much more"

"Ok, no need to get so dramatic" Blaine joked with a chuckle.

"You bastard" Sam complained with a hearty laugh before he pulled of Blaine's hand to force him to move, as he couldn't wait to have him next to him. "Come here, come on, there's enough room for the both of us"

"And your wound?" Blaine asked, unsurprisingly worrying about everything.

"My wound is on my right side, I'm sure I'll be safe if you stay on my left"

"But…"

"Either you lie down here with me or you go home, there is no way I'm going to let you spend the rest of the night in an old chair" Sam answered in a stern voice, for once not caring about being too harsh because he really wanted for Blaine to rest, one way or another –though of course he would rather stay with him on his bed, of course.

"Like you did when I was at the hospital a few months ago, you mean?" Blaine sarcastically replied, remembering how Sam had barely left his side for days after he got knocked down by a cab.

"That was different, you were so much worse than I am, you were unconscious so you couldn't ask me to lie down with you and we were not even together yet" Sam tried to reason with him, but his words had the opposite of the desired effect and Blaine smiled lovingly at him.

"Weren't we?" Blaine asked with that dreamy smile of his that always drove Sam crazy, remembering about those days when they hadn't taken the step to be together yet, but already acted like a couple most of the time.

"Not officially, at least" Sam answered with a matching smile before turning mockingly serious again. "But now you're my boyfriend and you're supposed to spoil me when I'm sick, so if I ask you to lie down here with me you have to do it"

"Fine!" Blaine retorted with a faked frustrated sigh as he finally climbed on the bed with all the care in the world so he wouldn't accidentally jostle his boyfriend. "Gosh, I almost preferred you when you were high, you were way sweeter"

"Gosh, what did I say?" Sam asked with a terrified expression as he lifted his left arm for Blaine to lie down under it.

"You couldn't believe you were so lucky so as to have me as your boyfriend" Blaine explained with an amused chuckle as he let his head fall on his beloved boyfriend's shoulder.

"Which is completely true" Sam answered, all jokes aside, as he enveloped Blaine with his arm and lovingly squeezed him to his chest, feeling he had missed him all day even if he had been right next to him all along while he slept.

"Aw" Blaine exclaimed gratefully, his smile wider this time before he lifted his head to kiss Sam's lips. "Ok, I forgive you"

Sam chuckled fondly at him, and then they fell in a companionable silence for a few minutes, content in the knowledge that they didn't need anything if they had each other. Blaine let his head fall on Sam's shoulder again, very carefully so as not to hurt him, and Sam's hand move irremediably to caress his scalp, as he always did when they lay down together like this. Though this time it wasn't exactly out of habit, but Sam was trying to make Blaine relax completely and make some of the tension accumulated during the day leave his body.

"Gosh, thank God they didn't make me call my father" Blaine broke the silence a couple of minutes later, and it was so unexpected that it made Sam laugh wholeheartedly –until it hurt.

"Don't make me laugh" Sam pleaded with a wince and a smile.

"I'm so sorry" Blaine apologized, horrified he had caused his boyfriend any discomfort, even if unwillingly.

"It's ok, it was worth it" Sam reassured him with a smaller laugh, as he pushed Blaine's head to his shoulder again.

Poor Blaine, Sam wished there was a way for him to keep worrying about everything so much. It was like he couldn't get a rest, could he? He had been worrying about him all day, the day before that it was his audition for the NYADA final show… gosh, the audition! Sam couldn't believe he had completely forgotten until then! And yes, he had been close to dying and everything, but he felt like the worst boyfriend ever anyway!

"Hey, how did the audition go?" Sam asked, his fingers intimately running through Blaine's wild curls.

"Oh, it… it didn't go all that well" Blaine answered with a shrug of his shoulders that felt funny to his doting boyfriend.

"Just that?"

"Yeah, there were so many good performances, I don't think I'm going to make it"

"Come on, Blaine, I can't believe it, you're so much better than any of your classmates!"

"I'm not, you're just biased"

"You really think they're not going to pick you?"

"I'm afraid so"

"Damn it, you've worked so hard for it…" Sam exclaimed, really upset at the thought that Blaine wouldn't make it.

"It's okay, there will be other opportunities" Blaine answered, trying to play down the importance of it.

Sam kissed his boyfriend's forehead to comfort him, even if he had to admit that Blaine didn't seem that upset. Usually his insecurities would lead him to blame himself, to complain about how much of a failure he was, to torture himself about how he should have tried so much harder even if he had already given the best of himself. But this time, even if disappointed, he didn't look too upset. As if nothing he could have done could have changed things. Which knowing him probably meant…

"B?" Sam broke the silence again, even if Blaine's eyes were already closed and was probably very close to falling asleep.

"Hmm?" Blaine mumbled, too sleepy to go for words.

"Did you really audition for the show?" Sam incisively asked, knowing there was no sense in beating about the bush with his boyfriend.

"What?" Blaine feigned not having heard, trying to find some time for his tired brain to react to Sam's interrogation without giving too much away.

"Did you get to audition before I called you?"

"Of course"

"Blaine" Sam insisted in a tone that showed Blaine that he was not going to accept anything that wasn't the truth.

"Ok, I didn't. Happy?" Blaine retorted, not even looking at his boyfriend's face in embarrassment at having lied to him.

"No, of course I'm not happy" Sam answered, obviously upset at the implications of it. "Damn it, why didn't you tell me the truth?"

"Because I didn't want you to feel guilty about something you had no control over" Blaine honestly answered, immediately making Sam soften his tone in gratitude.

"I could have waited"

"Yeah, like I was going to make you wait in those conditions"

"Or I could have gone on my own and you could have met me when you were done. Damn it, you should have done that audition!"

"Hey, Sammy, come on, it's okay" Blaine reassured him, lifting from his chest so he could cup his cheek and make him look at him to make his word sink. "You really think I would have made a good audition anyway, as worried as I was?"

"I don't know, but…"

"And besides, I don't care. These things happen, you know?"

"But it was important"

"You're more important" Blaine answered with a loving caress to Sam's cheek and one of those smiles of his that always made his knees shake. "And like I said, there will be other opportunities"

"I know, but…"

"Don't you always say how talented I am? Then I won't have any trouble finding my place in the business, right?"

"Well…"

"Are you telling me I'm not talented?" Blaine asked, trying not to laugh about what he knew was going to be the answer because he needed to make a point.

"Of course not!" Sam indignantly answered, as if he had been insulted himself.

"Glad we reached an agreement then" Blaine ended the discussion with a kiss to Sam's cheek and once again rested his head on Sam's shoulder.

Sam remained with his mouth open, trying to find some words to say, for a whole minute, but he knew when he had been owned and how Blaine always gave the best arguments. Besides, how could he reproach him when all he had done was to love him and to take care of him, even in expense of his own dream?

His heart about to burst with love for the beautiful boy in his arms, Sam contented with kissing his forehead and reinforcing his embrace around him.

"I love you" he said in a whisper, not wanting to break the peaceful atmosphere in the room.

"I love you more" Blaine expectedly answered in which was their usual banter.

"I'm sick, you're supposed to let me win" Sam cheekily answered.

"Gosh, if this goes for long I don't know if I'll be able to stand it" Blaine mockingly complained, but of course he surrendered under Sam's ridiculous pout. "Ok, but just this once"

"Ok" Sam answered with a chuckle, grabbing the back of Blaine's neck to make him lower down so they could share a long and loving kiss. "I love you more"

"Ok" Blaine answered with a laugh, letting Sam win just for once as he nestled up more comfortably to his chest and prepared to sleep.

And well, if Sam had to speak with Madam Tibideaux himself and bribe her with a free design for the poster to promote the show –he was a professional graphic designer, after all!– so she would let Blaine audition –not to give him a part, he would earn that himself–, so be it. Blaine deserved everything and then more, Sam thought with a soft smile as he realized his boyfriend had already fallen asleep on his chest. And better to get some shuteye himself, he thought as he rested his head on Blaine's and closed his eyes.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** The scene with high Sam was bades on the video "_Man Wakes Up After Surgery And Hits On His Own Wife!" _on youtube (go and see it if you never have!). It's so adorable that I had tot turn into blam and I looooove it._

 _You might be surprised that Blaine got Tina and not Sebastian to be with him, but this takes place before the events on "A race full of obstacles" so Sebastian hadn't appeared back in his life yet._

 _Also, Blaine and his father were not on speaking terms yet, so that's why he is relieved he didn't have to call him._

 _So is there any other episode on the series you would like to see more developed? Don't be shy!_


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